Gabriela Kulka - Out [2006]
Gabriela Kulka - Out (2006)
01 In the lens 02 New to somebody 03 An orange 04 Laleczka 05 Spitting image 06 Airlock 07 Death wont save the day 08 Shark 09 This city 10 Rolemodels 11 Pilot 12 Królestwo i pół 13 Out 14 King of rats 15 Napisy końcowe
“Songs about psycho killers, dangerous fairytale visitations, bigotry amongst fish, idols – either falling or already fallen, cities at war, and owners of bone-instruments, to mention a few subjects. And among them, you will hear Beach Boys style choirs, references to Alien, the air of Weillesque cabaret, trips back to ’80 pop and infectious, fast, jazzy romps. “Out” is a sort of weird musical, which alternately sounds like a delicate, eerie music-box, and a tumultuous piano-rock wave of musical imagination.”
Much like her debut, it is firmly rooted in a very Kurt Weill’esque sense of cabaret, but the new, rich arrangements, varying instrumentation, and a far more confident production, have expanded its scope of mood and style into diverse, often surprising directions.
And so, we have the fast, jazzy piano romps of old, and dark serenades depicting fairytale visitations, but right next to them are the 80′s influenced pop of “Krolestwo i pol”, Beach Boys style backing vocals of “Shark”, operatic (s)punk of “Death won’t save the day”, and mysterious, filmic climates in the likes of “Out” and “An Orange”.
What remains a constant is Gabriela’s rich and flexible vocal style, rising and plunging with the music, nailing the emotional undercurrents of the album.
And just like the music, in turn intimate and rapacious, the songs’ subject matters cover a broad range of attitudes – some distance themselves with irony and tongue-in-cheek cool, others plunge right in and go straight for the throat (or heart). Lovers are shunned, cities fall, artists sell out, fairytale-entities seduce little girls, people die… that sort of fun. It’s all in there.
As far as lyrics are concerned, “Out” marks the first time four songs in Gabriela’s native tongue, Polish, have been included. You can find the lyrics’ translations on her website.
In short, what “Out” sets out to be is a trip to the fringes of what a dark musical theatre should be, a delicate music box and a tumultuous rock performance wrapped into one.” –- Gabriela Kulka
Last Updated (Sunday, 18 November 2012 16:14)