Pablo Embon – “A Cry For Help”

Pablo Embon – “A Cry For Help” – Single Review

Ok!  Pablo’s onto something truly special here.

Caught me at the right time too.  You music-fans with the same varied taste in what you listen to will know what I mean when I say, sometimes you get pretty locked into a certain style of music for a while and you’re happy to live there for what feels like a blissful eternity as you explore the sonic terrain of a genre you love once again.  Like, I’m not always listening to Jazz or even Jazz-like things most of the time in the background over here outside of what I do at sleepingbagstudios, but every so often, I’m in that mood and happy to revisit the genre.  I was doing that earlier this week and checking out the legendary Tortoise play a show here in Vancouver, and kind of reveling in the fact that what Pablo is creating is very similar to the kind of music they make…like…somebody get Embon an opening slot for Tortoise, will ya?

Anyhow.  Do I like what Pablo’s doing here on “A Cry For Help?”  Yes indeed I do.  I look at it this way – Jazz can be standard and that can have a level of its own appeal through traditional compositions and craftsmanship of course, but that kind of Jazz is rarely exciting to me in the same way that artists like Pablo Embon or Neil Cowley are in the music they’re making.  I like it when artists and bands challenge convention and/or push the boundaries of what we think we know about a certain style of music, to show us that it can be something even more than we hoped or thought it could be.  It takes a special type of musical mind to be able to pull that kind of stuff off in a convincing way that feels entirely unforced…but that’s the difference between the good and the great.  Pablo’s definitely got my respect in that regard…I think he’s got tremendous potential in the world of Progressive Jazz.  Exciting Jazz.  The kind of Jazz that allows for a free-flowing stream of innovative creativity.  That’s the kind of Jazz I like.

So it’s a good thing that Pablo’s making exactly that, right?  Here’s the thing y’all…if “A Cry For Help” was what it seemed like it was going to be in its first 1:50 through the entire length of the song, I’m sure I still would have enjoyed it.  How could I not when the beginning of this tune is so filled with raw emotion & tension & drama & beauty…I mean, it’s an audible smorgasbord of stimulating sound, and it’s a great way to establish the mood and tenor of this new single.  That being said, you’ll get what I mean when you have a listen for yourself…that first 1:50 is Embon dazzling us with his exquisite musicianship on one specific instrument, the piano, and as much as I love hearing him do what he can do with the ivory keys, to hear this song shift into a full-on large-scale production done solo as “A Cry For Help” makes its first shift ten seconds before the two-minute mark is reached…I mean…that’s a MOMENT dear readers, dear friends.  That’s a spot in a song where you can literally identify so many great things happening at once.  I think going in the direction Pablo has chosen at that moment gives “A Cry For Help” the opportunity to appeal to an even broader audience, as opposed to appealing to a much more niche piano-only crowd.  I also think that the transition itself couldn’t be done any more magnificently than it’s been done by Pablo here…you go from the piano intro, into feeling like the entire world of sound has opened up its doors, just for you in the colorful instrumentation that follows.  You name it, and the instrument he added in will go on to play a role…the intention he’s playing with is outstanding, and you can hear the confidence he’s playing with in each element he’s added into the mix along the way.  By the time things are all over, you’ve traveled miles & miles away from the original demeanor of this song and the mood it presented, into something that’s much more alive, full and all-out orchestral.  Like I said, maybe that’s just the kind of music I’ve been craving as of late, which might give a song like “A Cry For Help” a bump or two in how I feel about it…maybe…but objectively speaking, what’s not to like here?  I love ambitious, complex, and adventurous compositions…that’s what generates sincere excitement to me…and then hearing Pablo go after it all with such confidence and craftsmanship…I mean, it’s a pure joy to experience, truly.  Like, the guitar solo alone would have been worth the price of admission here, or again, the stunning piano that opens the song to begin with would have been too…and in considering how many twists and turns there are in between & around all that, you’ve gotta hand it to Embon for mastering the art of being genuinely interesting with his music.  Ultimately, I’d tell you that it all fits…I don’t know that that necessarily means you’ll love every single choice he makes along the way…it’s a song filled with chances and unique variables, so it’s probably safer to say that you’ll have some parts of this single make more of an impact on you than others, but I’m not hearing anything that I’d consider to be detrimental to this track that would threaten people giving it multiple spins, especially if they’re fans of the genre to begin with.  I think the closest I came to part of “A Cry For Help” drifting a bit further outside of the orbit of my own personal taste was around the 2:30-ish mark…it’s a brief part of the song that springs to life with a dose of vibrant & fantastical sound…I don’t mind it being there or that kind of vibe reappearing later on around 4:25 either, it only takes a moment before the melody bends to something closer to what you’d think you’d find in a song with a title like this one has.  I’m probably just more partial to the main meat of this song…the compelling and intriguing parts of its melody that feel like they dive a bit further under the surface to give our brains a bit more to chew on…but all-in-all, I think Pablo Embon has once again found a way to supply our ears with supreme versatility, and an audible adventure well worth going on.

Find out more about Pablo Embon from his official website at:  https://pfembon.wixsite.com/website

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