Label: Celinka
Release date: June 5, 2024
Production: Divje jezero
Album length: 44.43 min
Genre: Jazz Rock Fusion / Progressive Rock
Rating: 9.0/10
Divje jezero are Slovenia’s flagbearers of jazz rock fusion with progressive touches, and in recent years they’ve been trying to reach a wider Slovenian audience by looking for ways to get more musically compact, the kind of thing that could catch the ear of radio. Their predecessor “Korak iz okvirjev”, released in May 2020 (RockLine review), hinted at exactly that. It’s an excellent studio album where the band didn’t sacrifice one iota of their authentic, homegrown artistry, and instead worked a lead vocal into the songwriting with remarkable effectiveness. It stands to reason that this gave them more room to flirt with the kind of artistic impulses that (can) knock on radio’s door more often, and Divje jezero have started making the most of it. All the while, they’ve kept every bit of the artistic originality that’s baked into their own way of making music.
This sextet’s strengths remain a constant, the new album included. We’re talking about huge musical talents fused into one musical body that is thoroughly eclectic in its artistry. No question about that. The four years since the predecessor “Korak iz okvirjev” flew by in a blink. A pile of new ideas sprouted, all worth realizing. Žiga Kovačič and Žan Sedej have slotted seamlessly into the sextet, which is rounded out by the seasoned wind player Tomi Peljhan and the band’s creative nucleus, its battle-hardened founding trio of Aleš Golja (guitar), Luka Čibej (drums, percussion) and Alen Bogataj (bass guitar). Those three set the foundation of the band’s sound and style. They have since the very beginning.
And “Prva stran” is the logical follow-up to “Korak iz okvirjev” and another step toward maturity in the band’s endlessly searching, curious artistry. What ‘pricks’ the ear even more this time than on the predecessor is the even greater looseness of keyboardist Žiga Kovačič, whose contributions, skill and expressive power within the arrangements have taken his role up a notch compared to Korak iz okvirjev, which further shows how much the sextet has grown over the four years since the lineup overhaul. Electric piano, Moog, Hammond organ. There’s even more wit and sparkle here than before. The dialogue between the instruments highlights just how tightly the crew plays together. The fusion in these shenanigans surprises and keeps delighting, yet never takes the dynamite out of the album’s momentum. That ever-tantalizing breeze of unexpected ‘twists’ in the acrobatics of the individual compositions is here, and it won’t stop thrilling the more demanding listeners in particular, the so-called music gourmets. In the jazz rock fusion field it’s easy to stumble onto the thin ice of ‘unlistenability’, or at least difficult listening, especially when improvisational moments start to overpower the motif structures that are supposed to be the skeleton of the compositions. But in their choice of arrangements and transitional fills, Divje jezero are skilled, deft and elegant throughout, always dodging such temptations.
The band invited Tinkara Kovač to guest on the shorter (read: ‘shorter’ by Divje jezero standards) and melancholic Signali, contributing vocals and flute. Still, that track doesn’t carry the same weight when it comes to catchy choruses as the playfully sparkling Divji voznik does within its refrains. That one surprises with its ‘cheekiness’ (a ‘rocking’ Hammond, guitar phrasing backed by saxophone at the same time, which is a surprise in the band’s art dossier so far, and a damn pleasing one). The same goes for Scritto in the first half of the album. The band had already released all three tracks as singles, having sensed that catchiness themselves. They even put out Divji voznik and Scritto as shortened, more radio-friendly versions. But what we get on the album “Prvi korak” are both tracks stretched out ‘snake-like’, and it’s in precisely these versions that they deliver what Divje jezero are most prized for, and what fans keep coming back to the band for. An exceptional looseness and the wit of an instrumental ‘comedy’. It never stops delighting, with a sparkle of inspiration carrying musicians who rest on the bosom of outstanding technical polish. If they were picking the next potential single from the album, the title track would easily join these singles. It opens the album with a lively, speedy tempo and surprises with a ‘mid-eight’ passage built on a Latin groove and playful keyboards.
The sound is excellent. Organic, it speaks analog, and caresses the ears with the natural pastels of the sonic picture. The warmth captured and brought out in Alen Bogataj’s playful bass playing could be a textbook case in sound production. The coloring of the motif structures goes hand in hand with constant filling-out with all sorts of ‘ornaments’, whether from the saxophone, keyboards, guitar or bass, and last but not least there’s Luka Čibej with his nimble maneuvers, thanks to which not even two drum fills on the album are the same. As one verse of the song Gospodar hints: “…Be the tailor of your dreams…”! That’s really what the music of “Prva stran” says to you, too.
The way the vocals are integrated into the compositions brings to mind the gains of the Slovenian popevka of the seventies. First, there’s Žan’s gorgeous voice, second, the arrangements built for it, and third, the band’s sonic ‘rusticity’, which stirs those feelings in how the sound is constructed (keyboards, guitar, winds). The association with the legendary Predmestje is definitely with us again this time too, a perceptible link between past and present. The album closes with Slepo leto! A mystical, epic track full of mood upheavals, where jazz rock bows to a bigger yield of progressive rock elements. It makes for one of the most interesting songs on “Prva stran”, and the structure of the song practically ‘forces’ Žan into more drama, which he coaxes out of his vocal performance very effectively! A brilliant moment, where some ‘Balkan-esque’ touches are also subtly slipped into the melos.
“Prva stran” is a lovely continuation of the musical story of “Korak iz okvirjev”, and Divje jezero keep on thrilling with their newest work too. With the new album, the sextet has laid down on tape an exceptionally relaxed and witty set of new original music, in which they keep their own place on the Slovenian and international music scene as an absolutely homegrown, one-of-a-kind original, or, to put it bluntly, an elusive eclectic aesthetic!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Prva stran
2. Scritto
3. Signali (ft. Tinkara Kovač)
4. Veliko mesto
5. Divji voznik
6. Gospodar
7. Slepo leto
8. Divji voznik edit (digital release only)
Credits:
Music, lyrics and arrangements: Luka Čibej
Additional arrangements: Alen Bogataj, Aleš Golja, Žiga Kovačič
Mix: Luka Čibej and Alen Bogataj
Mastering: Marvin (Tide Studio London)
Cover illustration: Gregor Koželj
Lineup:
Alen Bogataj – bass guitar
Luka Čibej – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Aleš Golja – electric and acoustic guitars
Žiga Kovačič – Hammond organ, Moog, Rhodes electric piano
Tomi Peljhan – saxophone, backing vocals
Žan Sedej – lead vocals
