NIGHT

Despite the 3 stars you see i give this album, some may think my reaction to be lukewarm at best. But, this being my first encounter with Gazpacho, it won't be my last! This is some nice art rock we have here. What i find most appealing is the production. Man does this album sound clear and well produced on a pair of decent cans. Given the apparent theme of this music, i think it nails it perfectly. I chose to listen to this album just before bed while i was physically and mentally winding down, and from the opening track it sure helped my heart rate drop to a level of blissful night-time peace. I wouldn't listen to this probably at any other point in the day, it has a niche sound and atmosphere that only suits my needs or wants for a particular purpose. There in lies its' problem; it does exactly what is meant to do well, but that's all. What it is meant to do at least in my interpretation of its' sound, is to put you in a dream-like trance through minimalist waves of synth and vocals that are 3x louder than the rest of the band cooing you like a lullaby. The vocals despite being quite loud in relation to the rest of the mix, i find neutral in terms what it brings to the overall sound. Nothing memorable about the melodies brought on by the vocalist. The end result is quite pleasant, but also not too engaging either, but i understand that's probably intentional? I happen to enjoy many different forms of music, even music that isn't meant to be listened to intensely (if such a thing exists - i think it does) and this album if listened to with no distraction doesn't give much to dig deeper into beyond atmosphere. What you hear on the surface is what you get within the first few minutes of this album. You can pretty much guess exactly where the rest of it is going. Once again, i like it, but it isn't blowing my hair back aside from it just being a well produced assortment of songs that flow nicely together.