Tracks: Sea of Tranquility, Nemo, Ghost, Delete Home, Sun God, The Secret, Bravo

 

 

Verdict (& Rating): mood music (80%)

 

Gazpacho are a Norwegian band that have developed over the past 7 years. Along the way they have been through a few musical styles to arrive at their current style.

 

That style is a bit difficult to define. At first I thought I had it pegged when I labeled them as sounding like latter day Marillion. As I  listened to  the album more I started to hear elements of 80's synth pop bands such as OMD, Depeche Mode and Ultravox. The next comparison I came up with was art-pop/rock cira the 80s, but I can't even think on any band name to accompany this description. Maybe I better just describe the individual songs and let you make up your own mind.

 

The opener, "Sea of Tranquility", floats out of the speakers and the haunting, almost eerie vocals, are placed upon a pseudo-electronic background made up of acoustic guitar and lush synth strings. "Nemo" has another gentle beginning. The emotive quality of the vocals that was present on the first song hits you immediately again here. A modern guitar sound together with some organ are brought into play to give the chorus a fuller sound.

 

The start of "Ghost" couldn't be described as more dynamic that the preceding tracks, but it is more definite. The keyboards provide a definite melody to the song, but like much of Gazpacho's music I hear the music a whole, rather than concentrating upon what individual players are doing, unlike say a hard rock song where the lead guitar stands out. "Delete Home" has a Latin feel to the rhythm section, but the song is unmistakably Gazpacho. This track is the most upbeat so far and there is a sense of animation present.

 

The drum machine dominates the start of "Sun God". The overall  feel reminds me of 80's popsters OMD. This is another slow track were the emotive vocal floats over a soundscape of string synth and drum machine. A bit like "Sea Of Tranquility", this is the type of song where the band seem to excel. "The Secret" has a slightly more aggressive start, with the guitars performing the opening honors. The song then takes on a late night smoky jazz club feel, and you're almost transported to a bygone era. The buzzing guitars do, however, manage to keep the overall sound contemporary.

 

"Bravo" is another song that begins by drifting a gentle rhythm and keyboards out of your speakers. The style here could be described as sophisticated pop with a 80's retro feel to it. The song has a sparse arrangement. A Traditional Irish band joined the recording session giving the song an extra touch of personality and surprisingly fitting in well with the overall context of the album. Other songs vie for contention, namely "Sea of Tranquility" and "Sun God", but "Bravo" makes it into the top slot for me.

 

The band talk about their music being about feeling and mood and that this is what they are trying to convey to the listener. The result is that whilst the other musicians are an integral part of the sound, you're probably going to come away from listening from the album remembering mainly the vocals. The haunting vocals give the music a forlorn quality that makes you imagine listening to this music whilst looking out on a bleak winter's day.

 

As I said earlier Gazpacho have pretty much defied my attempts at pigeonholing them. My final thoughts are that the sound is more focused on the Pop market - not mainstream Pop, but sophisticated Pop, rather like the ABCD album that I reviewed recently.