Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Zoran, Jernej
Label: Self-released
Released: 2017
Running time: 38:05
Rating: 4.5/5
Jernej Zoran is »V svojem filmu« (“in his own movie”). Really, every one of us is, we just have to remember it. Now and then, at least a few times in life. Anyway, there’s hardly any need to waste many words on Jernej. The man, who hails from Šentjernej in Lower Carniola, has already proven himself in the past as a superb composer and guitarist, in short a musical visionary. He always knows how to speak very skillfully to both the less demanding and the demanding listener. The album »V svojem filmu« also continues the stories of the past, told by the two top-quality predecessors »Stratosfera« (2012) and »Romeo, Julija in tatovi sonca« (2015). The new album confirms Jernej’s ongoing artistic maturing and, most importantly, keeps up the high creative inspiration and charge that have stuck with him for the past few years and are the very foundation for regularly releasing new, original, high-quality material.
On »V svojem filmu« Jernej, more than ever, tests himself as lead vocalist. He handed that role over to a guest on just two tracks, the female vocals handled by Urška Bakovič on Povej and the closing Bodi to, kar si. Jernej sensed that bringing in his own voice was actually necessary this time, since the poetry he contributed for the new songs is especially intimate and personal. What matters about this whole »bold vocal experiment« is the realization that, even though he’s first and foremost a guitar »shaman«, Jernej delivers all his lead vocals completely decently and with confidence. If we’re splitting hairs, only the love song Mavrična princeska comes off a little vocally naive. But that’s simply the nature of the song. Jernej Zoran isn’t the kind of singer you’d necessarily look for as the lead voice on albums, nor does he have any specific or unique vocal color that would make him instantly memorable, but he sings the vocals at a satisfying level of quality. The performance doesn’t for a moment rob the songs (as a whole) of their expressive power or compositional credibility (assurance). And that’s the essence of the move Jernej has pulled off successfully.
The character of the songs carries a strong blues stamp, and at the same time shows that Jernej learned how to shape compositions from masters like Peter Frampton, David Gilmour, Steve Miller, Eric Clapton,… The bold guitar acrobatics, where the man keeps deftly trading on the original compositional axiom »less is more«, subtly placing notes to maintain constant melodic catchiness, point to the unique charm of the evergreen The Eagles. In short, the album »V svojem filmu« is exactly what its title announces. In Slovenia, a lone and singular manifesto of rock audacity. While albums of this genre character, like »V svojem filmu«, are teeming in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom, here at home (especially these days) they’re a great rarity. In a word, this is finally a proper Slovenian rock’n’roll album, without a whiff of the alternative-rock flavor that mostly likes to sneak into the expressive guitar sound of Slovenian bands.
The new album has two instrumentals. The first is the heartfelt, blues-rock-spiced Ejdžent Kuper, and the second is one of the strongest compositions on the album, called Keru unu (probably derived from the Lower Carniolan dialect for »Katero tisto«), which draws you in with incredible listenability while stringing together a gorgeous feeling of highly compatible union between strong guitar phrases and the leading musical forms of the song itself. This track also manages to conjure a touch of mystique on the album.
Another quality of this album is its excellent production. A lively, dynamic, tightly contrasted and full sound picture. The album carries a living vibration, and its sound is built on chasing analog warmth. Recorded in three studios based in Šentjernej, Kočevje and Novo mesto, the album resonates with full-blooded rock energy, while the musicality and compact shape of every track constantly court airplay on the radio (which is a constant for Jernej).
Once again we get eleven strong original compositions with polished charisma, skillfully and carefully packed into a format of musical catchiness and just the right dose of rock punch with a live feel. On the new material, too, Jernej proves himself an extremely strong and skillful »songwritter« (composer). The arrangements are deftly spiced with constantly teasing guitar ornaments and keep expressing the sparkling, playful touch of Jernej’s inspiration and his bright ideas in the search for the most fitting compositional solutions. Everything is in its right place, »mid-eight« passages included. The songs maintain constant musical fluidity of compatible links across verse – (pre-chorus) – chorus. Jernej knows and understands exactly which parts of the songs to bring out and color in contrast, both in terms of production sound and composition (adding extra movement with finely measured short but punchy touches), so as to coax even more power out of them in speaking to the listener. In this he remains a master. His guitar also has a gorgeous, natural-sounding tone that instantly grabs your attention, not only in the lead phrases but especially in the solos (these remain Jernej’s greatest expressive strength, check out the outstanding closing solo of Odklopljeni svet for yourself, for example), speaking in the passions and emotions it delivers with real substance. Truly, this is the expressive power of the biggest world-famous rock’n’roll bands, whose sound is built on (»rises or falls«) the expressiveness of their guitarists.
The poetry is full of real insights, whether socially critical and engaged (Veliki brat, Pogum, Povej) or personal and confessional (love songs too, like the opening Avešunfiling), and alongside the bitter realizations it’s encouraging all the way through. It speaks with optimism, with a wake-up-call spirit (Povej, Bodi to, kar si, Magija). It’s hard to pick out the album’s highlights, and the equal polish of the new compositions once again calls incredibly effectively for general radio rotation. Especially if we could relive the early eighties for a moment. After the album »Na zahod« by Drevored, Jernej Zoran’s new album is the second extremely strong original achievement on the Slovenian rock’n’roll front, both released right at the very start of 2017. As such it deserves all the attention, both in the eyes of the widest Slovenian music public and in the national radio’s programming, especially in strengthening healthy Slovenian mid-tempo music and, as a result, Slovenian rock’n’roll culture.
Jernej Zoran – Avešunfiling (official video):
Lineup
Jernej Zoran – guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, percussion, vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Urška Bakovič – vocals on tracks 6 and 11
Sebastijan Podlesnik – bass guitar on track 11
Miha Recelj – drums
Primož Velikonja – drums on tracks 1 and 11
Production
Jernej Zoran
Track list
1. Avešunfiling
2. Veliki brat
3. Magija
4. Ejdžent Kuper bluz
5. Mavrična princeska
6. Povej
7. Stara ljubezen
8. Pogum
9. Keru unu
10. Odklopljen svet
11. Bodi to, kar si
