“The Russian soul is a dark place,” said Dostoyevsky, and I suppose that’s easy to believe. To anyone that’s taken GCSE history, Russia is synonymous with snow, vodka, ushankas, snow, oppression, Lenin and snow. Russian literature grapples with the heaviest of issues; war, peace, death, morality. Vladimir Putin can kill you with his thumb.
To me, Russia has always been deeply fascinating. It is a country of such diverse beauty, vivid history and musical splendour, from the lyricism of Rachmaninoff to the punk-rock feminism of Pussy Riot. Russian indie-pop stars don’t come along that often, so it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Sultanov.
 Moscow-based but born in Azerbaijani, Dan Sultlanov is bonafide Russian art nobility, his grandfather Tahir Salakhov is an internationally celebrated painter and draughtsman, and his mother, grandmother and aunt are all artists, so it’s not surprising that Sultanov has a slight artistic flair. ‘Slight’ is a bit of an understatement actually, seeing as Sultanov describes himself as a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, visual artist and scriptwriter. Like the one-man-bands of yesteryear, this guy’s got a finger in every pie. Influenced by artists such as Michael Jackson and Tchaikovsky you can expect his album to be diverse, and Sultanov describes his sound as ‘ a combination of energy and romance, rhythm and melody.’
Sultanov’s debut single 'Keep On Running' is produced and co-written with Andy Wright, who’s produced everyone from Annie Lennox and Simply Red, Jeff Beck and Imelda May. Sultanov describes 'Keep On Running' as a ‘nostalgic summer song’ and without sounding too flippant that’s precisely what it is. This isn’t a song that should be heard on headphones as you cuddle a hot-water bottle on a long winter’s night, it’s a tune for lazy days and late-afternoon summer get-togethers. It’s cool, it’s upbeat, it’s smooth. The accompanying video is a sleek and modern animation based on Sultanov’s own ink drawings. The simplicity of style and the use of bright, block colours is like Andy Warhol meets Soviet propaganda, and the video showcases Sultanov’s feel-good lyrics and artistic capability.
“I’ve always been surrounded by art in many different forms,” Dan says, “All these sounds, rhythms, colours, canvases, paints, charcoals… everything helped develop my vision of the world and made me the person and artist that I am today. I can’t wait to finally share my music.”
Having heard 'Keep On Running' and snippets of the new album, it seems to me that he’s more than ready to share his music with us.
The average Russian soul may be dark and mysterious, but Sultanov’s soul is light and bright. Snow and vodka? More sunshine and lemonade.
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