DAISY WORLD's Debut Album 'TOOTHPICK' Is a Vocal Playground of Retro Grooves
Photo: Seannie Bryan
DAISY WORLD, the retro-groove project created by Daisy Hamel-Buffa, has finally released her anticipated solo album, TOOTHPICK. LA-based-and-raised, Daisy’s unmistakable musical touch has graced projects like Steve Lacy’s Apollo XXI and Tyler, The Creator’s CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. She began her journey with a solo project, DAISY, entrancing listeners with steadfast, romantic stories woven through R&B-punk soundscapes. Now, as DAISY WORLD, her colorful range of influences and songwriting voices merge as one.
Standing at the forefront of a slew of sultry signature sounds throughout TOOTHPICK is Daisy’s incomparable vocal performance and writing. Invoking hints of Rihanna’s playfulness and Alicia Keys’ intentionality, Daisy’s voice carves a landscape across grooves with a singular flow. Her melodies exist in their own genre, born of R&B, jazz, and pop sensibilities but shaped by a truly innate songwriting instinct.
“The Big Cool” lets listeners bask in Daisy’s melodic writing, as her voice glides over a '90s-inspired, filtered drum beat and cascading electric piano. She slips in and out of syncopation, knowing exactly when to challenge the song’s current. One of the lead singles, “ur soggy,” embraces this Rihanna-esque attitude in the vocals, infusing each word with a bit of a smirk. The playful, bold delivery perfectly complements the groovy instrumentals, as synth chords expand unrestrained across the wide soundscape.
Daisy also leans into a live sound with some of the vocals, for example in “sleep,” which serves as one of the more vulnerable tracks on TOOTHPICK. “sleep” is mainly built around piano and background vocals, growing and swelling with the emotional spectrum often only found in live performances. The harmonies, piano, and lead vocals breathe together, highlighting Daisy’s acumen as a bandleader and arranger. With this one-take style, listeners are served raw emotion on a silver platter—passionate, gritty belting alongside silky runs.
The sonic world-building is another aspect of DAISY WORLD that separates their sound from the masses. “so it goes” taps into sultry, draping satin guitar licks and emotive percussion, all tied together with a velvet stack of harmonies. It’s delicate but not fragile, lush in all the right ways. “pho & cry” follows with a similarly picturesque composition, but laced with more nostalgia. Daisy leans into the cyclical flow of an arpeggiating guitar, intertwining synths that swell in and out of focus. There’s a disorientation to the track that is entrancing, a quality DAISY WORLD seems to possess inherently.
TOOTHPICK closes with a masterful pairing of tunes. First, “blindfold,” which molds a swirling, determined soundscape out of complementary soft and hard instruments. The vocals are cushioned with reverb and strings that swirl whimsically, then driving drums ground the arrangement, giving the song a spine. “blindfold” is an explosive finale, but “I miss u” officially ends the album. It provides almost an epilogue, traversing new places with the melody and hailing to piano goddesses like Sara Bareilles and Fiona Apple in its introspection: “I don’t mean skin on skin, I don’t mean lips on hips / but it’s something in the way, you turn your eyes away,” she sings.
A triumphant and long-awaited debut, TOOTHPICK is a sonic odyssey of DAISY WORLD’s influences and creative journey, beaming with the infectious musicality of an artist who knows exactly who she is.
Listen to TOOTHPICK below:
