557799

An exquisite experience, a must listening!

Music. What would we do without it? Art is endless and insatiable, its variety of colors, cultures and shapes will never cease to impress us, will never cease to delight us. I've been lucky enough to be introduced to a quite nice amount of bands and projects from all over the globe, because it is impressive to see that we, as a race, are really creative beings with lots of ideas and ways to expose them. Recently my luck became even brighter when I was kindly introduced to EYOT, a four-member band hailing from Serbia whose newest single 'Heartbeat' blew my mind since the first listen, a single that will be featured in their album '557799', due to be released in Oct 23rd .

Over a month prior to its official release, The Rocktologist has been able to listen to it, thanks to the kindness of Ropeadope people, who I thank for this opportunity.

What we can find here is music with no boundaries, pure art made by creative minds that understand each other and know how to explore vast musical and cultural realms. A 44-minute album divided in 7 pieces, for the likes of jazz, fusion, experimental, progressive rock, Balkan, and even ambient music lovers.

It kicks-off with 'Dodola', which I've learnt is a pagan tradition of the Balkans. It starts with an ambient sound, but later a jazzy feeling appears and little by little a structure is being built up. Since this first track it is evident the synergy between the musicians, because the four of them are equally important, all of them add their grain of sand to create a multi-layered piece that can be enjoyed from head to toe. The bass line is addictive here (I used to play bass, so I love those lines), but the piano is also hypnotic, it creates wonderful atmospheres. Though I love the whole song, just before reaching minute 6 the climax appears with the introduction of sax and trumpet, an emotional passage that made me say wow. The great thing about it is that the song does not finish there, it morphs into a kind of funky-proggy-jazzy song. An amazing first track!

'Linen' is a rendition to Serbian composer Stevan Mokranjac, aka father of Serbian music, whose legacy is preserved nowadays within his countrymates. A delicate, sober composition that has to be heard with good headphones in order to have a superb auditive experience. Colorful textures and nuances created by piano and drums, and a great guitar that appears here and there, but whose prints are indelible. With 'Rite' you will shake your head at the drums' rhythm; later you will be delighted by the entrance of bass, piano and guitar, all of them playing different notes, sharing different emotions, working alone but together, creating an exquisite musical delicacy. Love the arpeggio here and love the brief but solid bass solo that then leads to an explosive ending. Well, but it was not the definitive ending, because the music restarts with new elements that take us to a brand-new adventure. Vocals will be found for the first time in this album at minute four, in one of my definitive favorite moments.

'Rain' starts with a swing rhythm made by drums, then piano joins and produces a melancholic sound, a sense of tranquility is spread here, so one can close the eyes and picture memories, even those who has not happened yet. There is a short moment of introspection after 2:30, the guitar plays some notes with an almost quiet atmosphere, and then it invites the other instruments to join and start again. Despite the rain, the music shines. 'Heartbeat' is the guilty song that took me here, and I thank it for that. A song that was wisely chosen as a single because of its purity, I mean, the musicians' souls are transparent, we can appreciate in a certain way a slice of their Serbian history, their heartbeats, their ups and downs, their constant changes, their hope. At minute 3 there is an outstanding change that leads us to a prog rock realm, farther from jazz and closer to rock, showing us their will to create from their hearts, and of course, their quality as composers and performers, a song thar post-rock, indie rock and krautrock lovers will love, I am sure. This is the part that blew my mind and made me want to listen to the full album. Amazing!

With 'Odd' we are reaching the final part of the album, however, there is still richness on it. The jazzy feeling returns in this track, as does my desire to play bass again (love the soft but deep bass playing here). A track that can be easily enjoyed, a song with a delicious and peaceful atmosphere, a piece that can ease our souls. Last but not least, the title-track '557799' appears. They chose this title due to the odd rhythm of the composition, which happens to be the basic rhythms of traditional Balkan music: 5/8 5/8, 7/8 7/8, 9/8, 9/8. I love that besides enjoying top-notch music, my cultural heritage has improved a little and I feel now a bit closer to that country that is really far from mine (Mexico). This is a wonderful final track, the execution is relentless, the use of those odd time signatures even reminded me in some way to King Crimson, and that emotional part after 4:30 when those vocals appear brought me goosebumps.

An extraordinary album, to say the least. A low-profile project from Europe that has toured a lot, but that now in these strange times need our support, so if you get the chance, please go and listen to it, you will not regret.

Enjoy it!

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