Blupa Music – Story Of A Freak
Blupa Music – Story Of A Freak – EP Review
Been more than a year since we last reviewed the sounds of Blupa Music! Last time around, when reviewing the single “Precious You” – we got a good sense of the innovative and inventive approach that the main driving-force behind the melodies and music, Geir Erlend Roev, was capable of creating and I’m excited to hear what he’s up to next on the new EP, Story Of A Freak.
I’m proud to say that I felt like Blupa Music has truly progressed since the last time I heard it – I completely enjoyed my time listening to the new record and thought the four new tracks really showed growth, evolution…and of course, a healthy dose of creativity – Story Of A Freak delivers solidly over its length and absolutely entertains through real groove & sincere melodies combined.
Great hypnotic rhythm to the opening of the new EP with its title-track “Story Of A Freak” laying out the narrative in a Bowie-esque tone through the vocals. Stellar ideas on the guitar absolutely fuel the fire in the creativity and melody of “Story Of A Freak” – it has excellent tone, ideas and atmosphere all smartly combined into a serious groove that pulls you in quick and keeps you listening intently. Could be extremely personal lyrics here, or it could just be a really cool story/perspective on the challenges of life; it all sounds genuine enough to me and more than likely based upon real-life experiences. In any event…whether or not it’s based on his own experience or Geir has written a strong narrative – can’t deny the opening rhythm & groove combination that delivers perfectly at the beginning here. I liked the added ‘madness’ or experimental-nature of the sound of the vocals themselves – came out sounding great and really fit the mood of the tune.
Heading onto the “Night Train” – Blupa Music takes this one instrumental in a very wise, great choice and fantastic display of restraint here. I’m a vocalist myself as many of you already know…and I hear a track like “Night Train” and my head starts exploding with ideas for lyrics, just as I’m sure they no doubt did within Geir’s mind as well – but the real sign of a pro when you do both vocals and music in your material is knowing where the space truly exists and when is best to add that other layer. In the case of “Night Train” – you can hear the melody…the music speaks to you very, very strongly…to the point where the words would have merely become a redundancy. Now…just because that’s the case doesn’t mean that space isn’t still ‘filled-in’ 99% of the time by bands/artists out there, because it generally IS…again, the restraint that Blupa Music shows here on “Night Train” is a highly professional one that uses great instinct to leave this one as the instrumental gem that it is. Fun, crisp and clear drums from Will Jones of the UK – great snap on the hits and a wicked tone to the attitude in his musicianship. High on groove once again with stunning guitar-work throughout the entire rhythm – “Night Train” has an amazingly inviting sound – I absolutely loved the way this track sounded and moved, evolved and progressed at every turn.
I really liked the recording of “Spellbound” – the atmosphere of this song stuns with clarity in the production. That being said…it’s by far the most ‘challenging’ song for the people out there in terms of its accessibility; arguably the most artistically-ambitious track on the EP, it’ll probably take a couple listens to really appreciate what Blupa Music has created here. I’ll admit, I wasn’t even sure of it myself at first – but this actually ended up becoming a very strong tune on the record for me. The guitars/bass combination sounds like something The Breeders could have recorded in the texture once the song kicks-in around the forty-second mark. LOVE the tone on those guitar notes sliding around – it’s absolutely stunning…no better word for it. In behind them…once again, a great narrative and set of lyrics that match the energy and atmosphere of the music…cool filters on the layers of vocals that create the sound. It’s artsy for sure…but there’s a ton of people I can think of that would get right into this like I ended up doing…”Spellbound” is captivating in its uniqueness and a really cool tune. Great horns!
Four excellent ideas wrap-up with the final track “Restless Wings” – which was actually a track I had at first thought was like…an hour long. I had somewhere along the line hit a button on my playlist that had it repeating this final track over & over without realizing it had happened. But here’s what’s really cool…I never stopped listening. For quite a while, I sat here…and just listened to the sparkling guitar-notes and hypnotic rhythm & tone of the vocal-flow without even really questioning how long it had been going on for – I just enjoyed listening to more of it. I think Blupa Music has really found a solid, creative approach to this new material that really works well for him…these songs turned out fantastically and “Restless Wings” makes for a great ending that eases us gently out of the EP…
…and if you’re anything like me…right back into it. Great job.
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