If you have had the chance to read some of my reviews from the past, by now then you should know that I love authentic music. In a time where, in the words of The Narrator in Fight Club, everything is basically “a copy of a copy of a copy…” and for some people with either a big amount of patience or perhaps no brain at all, they have developed a tolerance towards this and the industry knows it well and that’s why they always sell us the same product. But then, as an answer to my prayers, a new and unique act enters the scene and changes the paradigm. In order to do this, these acts tend to search in the past and restore what made classic music, well, classic or in the case of Kim Vogels, a culture.
URL: http://www.kimvogels.com/
Native is an record that explores Folk as rare albums and artists does. The gypsy spirit from the singer-songwriter can be felt throughout the whole material. “Years Ago” kicks off with this rhythm guitar that for a time took me to the old villages of Japan back when Samurai’s and Ninjas used to rule the world. The song evolves into a whole different beast and becomes this really catchy song filled with some classic Roots instruments like Banjo, the drums, tambourine and Kim’s powerhouse vocals that gets under your skin, something I haven’t felt in a long time when I heard Florence Welsh for the first time. In “Two Of A Kind” goes totally western, like you seriously can picture yourself in a saloon as you hear her singing while a shutdown is taking place outside, the way how both male and female vocals blends in the chorus is just amazing. “Call Of The Wild” is everything but savage, it’s a beautiful piece that blends the melodic sounds of Brazil with jazz, which as you may expect by now results in one of the most intriguing tracks off the record. The two remaining tracks both changes the upbeat and energetic sound for a more quite and relaxing.
As a whole, the album is amazing. Definitely the first three songs are just outstanding while the last two were personally the least favorite off the bunch, perhaps the fact that by the third track she was basically starting a huge party and then she abruptly call it quits, that’s how I felt. It would have been awesome if she kept the excitement going throughout the whole album, but I guess it’s like they say “we would not get everything we want on this life”.
Overall, Native is somewhat flawless. Even on the slowest songs you can hear some of the artistry and trademark she has been developing throughout the whole material and when it comes to that and you focus on those elements, the album never gets boring. In the end, I am nothing but exciting to see how she grows and goes for higher notes in her following materials as I felt she could match if not beat big singers like Florence Welsh, she only needs to raise her own bars and be less contained – except for that, this is one of the best album of 2016.
Rating: 9/10
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kimvogelsmusic
RJ Frometa
