Za nazaj in za naprej

Author: Aleš Podbrežnik

Artist: Budna, Samo
Label: Celinka
Release: 2015
Duration: 37:49
Rating: 4.5/5

Six years after his debut »Manj je več«, the superb singer-songwriter from Prekmurje, Samo Budna, is back on the scene with a new solo studio album, »Za nazaj in za naprej«. For those of you who don’t follow the Slovenian music scene day in, day out, a quick recap: Samo Budna spent years leading the excellent band Posodi mi jurja, and he also had a gig in the crew of Vlado Kreslin and Beltinški bandi. Mostly as a violinist.

Even though Samo needed quite a stretch of time to record the new studio album, it was “quietly” heralded by the songs Kje si, Sončna hiša and Dnevu se slabo piše, which got solid airplay on the radio, and finally, shortly before the album’s release, by the song Brez skrbi.

The new album is the logical continuation of the confessional story told by its predecessor »Manj je več«. It’s a continuum of Samo’s musical journey so far, it keeps a meaningful link with his work in Posodi mi jurja, and in its sentiment, moods and melos it’s kin to selected works by Vlado Kreslin.

An album with the stamp of »art rock par exellence«. Seasoned in a distinctly homegrown, self-grown way. That’s why it carries a one-of-a-kind musical dossier. Even on the previous album Samo was backed by excellent musicians, which is why »Manj je več« was one of the better achievements on the Slovenian music scene in 2009. It worked the way a band album (not a solo one) really does, it felt authentic. Optimized organic, mellifluous (refined in the arrangement touches and the flow of the performance) and alive. The new album is exactly like that too, only now the whole Elevators crew joins Samo on it (on the previous album only Robi Pikl and Davor Klarič from Elevators helped him out).

On the new album Samo picked two poems by Feri Lainšček and set them to music (Sončna hiša and Sanje so večne), while Samo wrote all the other lyrics himself. The album opens with an awakening intro, the song Brez skrbi. It carries a socially critical charge, while the chorus keeps a positive outlook. Samo settles scores with the parasitic social elite in the darkest spot on the album, Mi smo edini. Otherwise, the album is led by the songs where Samo Budna deals with love affairs with women, much like Britain’s Steven Wilson.  One of those is Da si ob meni. It’s a song that is extremely well composed. Instantly catchy, built on a light dance rhythm, it brings the album a great indie pop rocker that could be in daily rotation on the radio. At the same time, it carries a powerful message, from a yearning man who still believes that a love between two people, aborted too early, can be born again. Moving in how real it feels. And that’s not the only such moment.

Samo Budna’s strength is that he’s an exceptionally sincere and truthful musician who isn’t afraid to give that sincerity away in its full glow. Through the verses Samo comes across as having deeply lived every line, and the emotions simply swell and boil over. That’s why the poetry hits so incredibly real and true. He literally shakes the listener to the core, that’s how sensitive Samo can be in his confessions.

Another very important factor, one that actually makes this phenomenally real-feeling poetry work at all, is the song arrangements themselves. They’re all, without exception, extremely musical. They’re compact, with the verse-chorus pairing living together in remarkable symbiosis. The album is packed with details that add an outstanding artistic value to Samo Budna’s clearly profiled vision. One such “little treat” is Pikl’s effective use of the banjo in the song Včasih ne veš (where it’s actually an integral instrument of the song), and then in Dnevu se slabo piše, where it joins the violin in a brilliant theatrical interplay.  

 Davor Klarič’s lively keyboards are another hugely important ingredient. Klarič is once again wonderfully sparkling and uses his inventiveness to the fullest, successfully combining sonic tradition (that chunky Hammond sound) with trendy (call it indie, if you like) shades that are nothing but the inherited play of 80s synth curtains. Davor knows exactly where a given sonic line belongs in an arrangement. Pikl is a real pleasure on guitar, building juicy fills in the contrasting background of the accompaniment and giving the songs a solid rock backbone. This time his minimalism is a particular delight, including the “slide soloing” in the song Sončna hiša. Here the counterweight in the rhythmic soundscape comes from the »Run Joe« – Jani Hace duo, who once again deliver their best. And who else? Samo Budna’s violin, which adds to the melos the spice that announces the homegrown sound, an authentic imprint of life under the Prekmurje sky. In the songs you feel, through the vocal interpretation, melancholy, longing, anxiety, but also a note of awakening that calls for leaving old patterns behind and for inner transformation, so you can keep moving, growing and maturing. The album is full of personal, confessional sensuality that anyone who puts the disc into their CD player can identify with.

The album »Za nazaj in za naprej« is an excellent achievement. Samo truly polished the arrangements down to the last detail and squeezed out the best he knows and can do right now. The songs are all on equal footing. This album doesn’t tolerate any quality stumbles. It’s an extremely listenable art rock album with a clearly expressed, distinctive songwriting voice. A strong arrangement backdrop, convincing delivery of the poetry, and at the same time light melodicity, with a pop contour as the premise.  This is an album where everything is in the right place and balanced with great finesse. The album has an outstanding delivery that’s actually a reflection of performing the album live in the studio itself, the way they used to do it in the seventies, when tape wasn’t cheap and bands had only one take at recording. You can’t ask for more.

Lineup

Samo Budna – vocals, violin
Davor Klarič – piano, Hammond, Rhodes, backing vocals, verse vocals on track no. 7
Robi Pikl – electric and acoustic guitar, banjo
Bojan Cvetrežnik – violin on track no. 4
Jani Hace – bass guitar, percussion, glasses, programming, backing vocals
Sergej Ranđelović “Run Joe” – drums, tambourine on track no. 4

Production

Jani Hace

Track list