Sitting at a crossroads between the lyrical majesty of Bob Dylan and the melodic sense of Ryan Adams and The War On Drugs, English singer-songwriter DD Allen is an artist on the rise. With a love for 80s influences that runs deep in his veins, you get a sense of a single-minded desire to create meaningful songs that stay relevant to the world we live in. In his latest single ‘Paper Masks’, DD Allen captures the essence of events that impacted society deeply throughout the global pandemic. And in 3m 32s, he focuses energy and attention on a story that cuts to the core of 18 months worth of everyday struggles. The message hits hard, arriving with a permanent sense of hope and realism — all driven by DD Allen’s unique, swooning vocal and a synth-led guitar attack.