Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-05-25
Photo: Courtesy of David James Allen
David James Allen gets lost in the stars on “The Moonlight Waltz,” a gorgeous new single and the latest preview of the Canadian artist’s upcoming cosmic country opus Jubilation Potpourri.
Listen to and share “The Moonlight Waltz” here: youtube.com/watch?v=RD1yL1RPFDM.
Recent praise for David James Allen:
“‘By Your Side’ is a softly spoken ballad, oozing with pedal steel, which weighs worldly wealth in the scales against a lifetime of time spent with someone who loves you, and, guess what, he wouldn’t trade the latter for the former.”
— Jonathan Aird, tracks editor, Americana UK
“By the Summertime is a throwback to sounds of the 1970s with a distant harmonica and soaring guitars. David James Allen’s soft-spoken singing style leaves a lot of room for dynamics, and the instrumentation is carefully planned, yet feels spontaneous.”
— Quality Americana
“Listening to David James Allen, it often feels as if he’s channelling every cool record you’ve ever owned. Built upon a rootsy funkiness that’s part JJ Cale and The Band, accentuated with shades of Daptone and Bill Withers, his songs spin off into emotional realms populated by the likes of Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and Harry Nilsson.”
— The Big Takeover
TORONTO, ON — As anticipation builds toward the release of David James Allen's upcoming album Jubilation Potpourri this fall, today he shares another preview in the form of “The Moonlight Waltz.” A stunning example of modern alt-country, the song's hazy vibes perfectly capture the feeling of drinking and dancing with your favourite partner on warm summer nights.
Allen says, “Inspired by many late nights on Dunlop Street in Barrie, Ontario during my twenties, I wrote it to reflect the night life — dive bars with karaoke evenings — places that made homes away from homes for a lot of people. Inside the walls, there's yearning, there's regret, there's freedom from the grind and a fleeting freedom from the shit you are running from in your own life. The song is like a state of mind and a moment you can't live in forever, because eventually it'll get the best of you and suck you dry like a vampire.”
“The Moonlight Waltz” follows the previous singles from Jubilation Potpourri, “Platform No. 12 (Old Friends)” and “By Your Side,” both of which were added to Sirius XM’s North Americana and CBC Music’s Canadian Country playlists. Jubilation Potpourri is the follow-up to Allen’s acclaimed 2023 album By The Summertime, and finds him further developing his skills as an alt-country auteur, producing the music himself, while playing the majority of the instruments as well.
David James Allen has been releasing music for more than a decade, but over the past several years — after moving east of Toronto to the wilds of Prince Edward County — he has been startlingly prolific. Beginning with 2017’s When The Demons Come and carrying on through 2020’s Radiations and the following year’s The Architect, Allen has been steadily amassing a remarkable body of work.
He cites Canadian poets Al Purdy and Nelson Ball for inspiring many of his lyrics, with a predominant theme being the perils of hard living. Musically, Allen builds upon a naturally soulful foundation few of his contemporaries possess, putting him firmly at the vanguard of the alt-country/Americana scene.
With “The Moonlight Waltz,” Allen once again demonstrates his uncanny ability to find the sweet spot between simplicity and boundary pushing, with the end result being a song that delivers a pure message in a timeless package.
