Pablo Embon – “The Last Breath”

Pablo Embon – “The Last Breath” – Single Review

Ahhh yes…the ol’ bait and switch.

You ever hear one of those songs that starts out with a sound you love, only to take it away from ya mere moments down the road?  Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing by any means…sometimes you can end up transitioning into something even more extraordinary…but that doesn’t mean you might not still miss the sound you started the journey of listening with either, right?

It’s a little of column A, and a little of column B for me this time around when it comes to the latest song by Pablo Embon.  Let’s be real here, the dude likes to go BIG & capture that awe-inspiring kind of music that would easily fill up a whole theatre…and I’m probably more on the side of the subtle, quaint and serene I suppose.  So when “The Last Breath” began and had such a noticeably mellow melody at the start, I was immediately interested right away, because it’s that type of demeanor in a song that speaks to me, in general of course.  What he had at the start with the exquisite guitar on “The Last Breath” reminded me a lot of the massive impact a very lesser known album by a project called One made on me years and years ago…the album was called Four September Suns.  Everything about it seemed so organic, humble, and genuine…I still have it, and it’s of course still special to me even now, some three decades after I probably heard it for the very first time.  We all like what we like and love what we love though, as I always tell ya.  Embon is a fan of the more expansive style of sound where Orchestral/Cinematic tend to meet…you know…like the spots where you’re watching a movie and the characters you’re following peer out into a whole new frontier or place they can call home, and the music rises with that quintessentially uplifting feeling of wonder and splendor mixed together perfectly, which is what you’ll hear swelling into the sound around about 1:20 in.  I’m not saying I’m opposed to it, I’m merely more of a fan of the more intimate parts of a song like “The Last Breath,” like the beginning, or later on down the road around the 2:25 mark as it dials back into an avant-garde synth-piano Jazz moment, or even further into the song with the violin as the main star around the 3:00 mark, or even more-so around 3:25 when the guitar gets to step back into the spotlight right before Pablo’s new song officially wraps up for good.

But that’s just the thing, ain’t it?  Most songs need somewhere else to go from where they start.  If they don’t have that, it’s going to be quite likely that your audience would feel cheated, or that your song wouldn’t have the dynamics required to keep us engaged and interested.  So while it’s still true that there are parts of a song like “The Last Breath” that I might personally enjoy more than others, it’s also very fair to say that Embon couldn’t have simply left it doing what it does at the very start…it was going to need more, and that’s exactly what he gave it, in the style we’ve come to know his music for.  The violin at the start of the journey as it transitions from its introduction is pretty wonderful too – like I said, I’m here more for the low-key moments, more-so than those spots where it feels larger than life.  Would I expect everyone to feel that way?  Heck no!  In fact, I’d bet it’s practically a 50/50 split when it comes to something like that…I think we all kind of identify with one side of music’s persona in that regard, some of us like mellow, some of us like more intensity, and on every second Wednesday, we probably all switch what we thought we liked into what we thought we didn’t as much, because a lot of how we listen to music is determined by how it speaks to the moods and circumstances we’re currently in.  I’m over here in a more contemplative, thoughtful kind of space right now myself, so it’s probably much more likely that it’s those softer moments in a song like “The Last Breath” are reaching me with more of a grip on my emotions.  Maybe on that next second Wednesday, I feel like I can go out there and conquer the world, in which case, maybe I’ll feel the complete opposite about what I’m hearing in “The Last Breath” at that point, and it’ll be the larger moments of Pablo’s composition that will align more closely with how I’m feeling.  You can of course, also look at a song like this through a much more optimistic kind of lens that suggests it has a little something for everyone, even if that means you tend to compartmentalize what you’re hearing a little more, rather than appreciating everything all at once.

Much to his credit, the quality in his composition, musicianship, and production is never in question, which remains just as true of “The Last Breath” as it is with many of the most recent tracks we’ve heard from Embon’s catalog.  He’s got an excellent understanding of analog composition and musicianship to go along with a firm grasp on how to bring his ideas to life, so you really do come to appreciate how much of a journey his music can take you on, and how seamlessly he’s able to transition from the smallest moments to the biggest ones along the way.  In that respect, it doesn’t really matter all that much what you personally like or love the most when you’re listening…I think we can all appreciate how he’s able to make the movement of sound possess such a natural fluidity to it, and marvel at how he can shift the whole demeanor, tone, and mood of his music from one side to the other with such impressive ease.  All things considered, I think it was the spots where the violin took the center of the spotlight that ended up appealing to me the most, but I certainly appreciate how Pablo is able to expand on his ideas while introducing different levels of uniqueness, creativity, and skill along the way.  Like…I’m tellin’ ya…have a listen to the spot around the 2:25 mark and you’ll know exactly what I mean – when Embon wants to flex his innovative side, he can really do some amazing and unpredictable things.

There’s a real natural charm to a song like this that can’t seem to help but to work its magic on you, and I’d say “The Last Breath” is yet another solid entry into his catalog in what’s been a busy year for Pablo.  He works hard to keep you fully entertained, while also making the kind of music he truly loves and can proudly stand behind for its quality…at the end of the day, it’d be pretty hard not to appreciate all that.

Find out more about Pablo Embon from this multi-link here:  https://linktr.ee/pabloembon.music

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