Daniel Knox – You Are My Friend: The Songs of Mister Rogers Review

Throughout this year, Daniel Knox’s output has been one of genuine warmth and interest. Collating his hobbies, interests and influences, conjuring up that love and putting it together in an album, is a beautiful treat to behold. Half Heart: Songs from Twin Peaks was a treat for the ears, collecting music from David Lynch’s hit show, and covering them with a powerful, deep voice. It brought new meaning to the songs, often improving on the original thanks to their variation in pace, recording style and vocalisation. His love for Lynch’s work in Twin Peaks bounced from track to track, and a similar theme appears on You Are My Friend, The Songs of Mister Rogers, his second album of 2020.

It’s clear throughout the album that Knox has such a deep respect and adoration for Mister Fred Rogers, and rightly so. But Knox goes one further, replicating the energy and comfort Rogers presented on his television show. A cover of the show’s theme song, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood opens us up to a whole new iteration of classic accompaniments to a show that I’ve never had the chance to see. We never had Mister Rogers in the U.K., and as I pointed out in my review of Tom Hanks’ A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, we had to make do with Mister Blobby and Noel Edmonds.

Knox’s baroque vocal style adds an incredibly soothing tone to the already welcoming melodies of Mister Rogers’ show. Piano chords that echo around the thunderous voice that always finds itself at the centre of each song. It turns these songs into poetic beauty, with Knox’s delivery bringing an invigorated, thoughtful metamorphization of tunes that many will feel a touching nostalgia for. Keeping this intact is crucial, and across the album the musical style, with baritone vocals and sombre melodies from the warm importance of the piano keys.

It’s hard to pick out highlights of the album when all of it is so consistently touching. A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood is perfect thanks to its blend of sentimentalism and appreciation for the original melody. Hello There is an incredibly well-produced song, extremely short but capturing the essence of Rogers’ convictions. Followed up by Many Ways To Say I Love You, and you have an incredible pairing, one that makes the album flow with ease. The build of that song towards the end, with creeping piano keys, a build-up in voice and abrupt end, make for one of many contenders for strongest songs on the album.

Whether or not you know of the source material the album borrows from is irrelevant, Knox has a knack for re-inventing these songs in such a superb way that they may as well be his own. Filling the void of isolation and lockdown with confident adaptations of music that means a lot to him, Knox has carved out a relatively nice niche for himself. Short enough to showcase the many tricks up Knox’s talented sleeves, but not too short, leaving plenty of time for listeners to appreciate the talent on display. A comfortable album that will make for an enjoyable and fulfilling short while.