Max Daniel - Character Study

Max Daniel
Character Study

Release date: 10/17/2025

Slow & Steady Records announces the release of singer-songwriter Max Daniel’s second full-length album, Character Study. The pen name of trumpeter, keyboardist and composer Max Miller-Loran, Max Daniel bridges the musical worlds of indie rock, folk and chamber music. On Character Study, Miller-Loran sings about a range of different “characters” – both invented and personal – wittily commenting on their psyches, quirks and blind spots from different perspectives. 

Much like Max Daniel’s 2020 debut, Meant To Be, Character Study started with a “song a day” challenge. The song sketches were then handed off to Miller-Loran’s main collaborator, guitarist Adam Nash. The two then took a trip to Iceland, rented a cabin, converted it to a DIY studio, and recorded guitar and voice renditions that would become the bedrock of each song.

“I became fixated on the idea of writing acoustic songs, presented simply, with very little post production,” shared Miller-Loran. “I did ultimately flesh out arrangements and orchestrations, but I wanted to commit to a more organic approach and more consistent instrumentation across all of the songs.”

Miller-Loran and Nash returned to San Francisco to finish the album, with drums added by Alex Nash (“I intended to omit drums, but Alex came up with some amazing parts”), chamber orchestrations by Kush Mody (“his contributions were vital and I’ve always loved how he treats strings”), which were recorded in Miller-Loran’s apartment – staying true to the DIY approach. The chamber ensemble features Steven Lugerner on clarinet and tenor sax, Jeannie Psomas on clarinet, Daniel Riera on flute, Marko Bajzer on bassoon, Matthew Szemela on violins and Misha Khalikulov on cello.