Album length: 43:25
Production: Drevored
Release date: 2009
Label: Nika Records / Franklin Republic Records
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Rating: 8.0/10
Drevored, a good thirty years after they first formed, are finally putting out their studio debut. Their approach fills the gap gaping in the Slovenian rock mainstream with ease. In their vibe, Drevored fit the square footage of Slovenia’s territorial integrity from head to toe. In other words, they’re aiming first and foremost at the musical taste of Slovenes. That means the radio-friendly “little night music” that plays it safe, doesn’t want to offend anyone, is ready to please across the board, and suits most Slovenian listeners, who today can hardly find the time to dig “under the skin” into the narrower or wider artistic reach of individual acts, never mind just the local scene, and especially not the foreign one. Add lyrics in Slovenian with a sense of sad melancholy, a gaze of suffering stared off into the distance (all that’s missing is a tear rolling down the cheek), and the whole thing gets that much easier to relate to. A mirror of the general mood of the Slovenian character? Not too far off.
Drevored are seasoned musicians, grown men who have been through a lot. When you get to that age, you’re not satisfied with gigs that pay the equivalent of a bottle of beer, and you don’t treat your own ears to the sound of a low-budget garage production either. You get pickier, you raise your price, you want refinement and more elegance, you can even turn into a full-blown stylistic dictator who demands the best in his perfectionism. So these guys are long past being furious, screeching teenage starlings. When the situation puts the choice of musical solutions in question, they’d rather flirt with the closing contour of bluesy jazz finesse (Zunaj je zima) than embarrass themselves by wasting the potency that a louder, more direct rock approach demands.
Their easy-to-love approach does come across as “generally friendly and harmless”. But one important quality holds the whole thing together and deflects every attempt by music critics to nitpick: the phenomenal production. With Vlado Meller stepping in as the mixing engineer, a man who shaped the sound of artists like Andrea Bocelli, Prince, Beyonce, Celine Dion, Shakira, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Julio Iglesias, Metallica and Duran Duran, among others, the Drevored story gets a whole different dimension.
The production especially nails the guitar sound. Contrasts are clear, dynamics are up front. The building blocks, with the vocal placed in the center, coexist in balance and make excellent use of the full spectrum of the soundscape, which among Slovenian bands is still more the exception than the rule. As far as production goes, “Dekade” is definitely a new high-water mark for the Slovenian rock scene. The bass line, lively and active, brings a welcome breath of fresh air to the melodic content of most of the simply built guitar phrases. Solid rhythms get the listener swaying along with a melos that could serve as the backdrop to any situation we move through in everyday life. The songs carry the unmistakable Drevored stamp from head to toe. It would be interesting to compare their expressive power across the years the songs were written. All the tracks are much older than the release year suggests. Over time they grew richer in message and bigger in arrangement. I’d say optimally so. Of course, we’re talking about the optimum of what Drevored can reach. The production also masterfully exploits the natural sound of the guitars, with welcome use of varying doses of reverb, stereo chorus, sustain and the like. These guitar moves are short, light and minimal. But that’s exactly where their strength lies. With minimalism they achieve the required effect. Concise and compact across all the songs. Poletna noč is a perfect example of how well this is capitalized on. A song dressed up optimally from head to toe and ready for spinning on the radio airwaves.
As far as production goes, “Dekade” is definitely a new high-water mark for the Slovenian rock scene. The minimalism of short, simple but concise moves, with melodically chiseled lead motifs, has found its right home on “Dekade”. This middle-of-the-road pop rock will delight above all the Slovenian middle-class moms and dads, who will happily spin this album on their afternoon drives home, worn out from the daily grind of their jobs, killing time with it while stuck in the tin-can traffic jams on Ljubljana’s main roads.
Easygoing guitar pop: predictable, singable, simple, relaxed-sounding, and close to the average Slovenian’s taste. Compositionally there are no great highs, but it’s packaged in the studio with the required elegance and sonic polish that stands out on Slovenian soil. With “Dekade” the average consumer gets far more than you hear on the “first listen”. And with “Dekade” Drevored can throw the doors wide open to the Slovenian “mainstream” of guitar pop rock. They’re acceptable for airplay on stations with a bit more musical savvy, like Val 202. The only question is what the guys in the band enjoy most and how far they plan to push with this approach. In any case, highly commendable.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Balkanska dežela
2. Ko sem na dnu
3. Odhajal sem
4. Daleč od ponorelega sveta
5. To bila bi ljubezenska pesem
6. Zapri oči
7. Poletna noč
8. Potepuhi
9. Fant južnih krajev
10. Zunaj je zima
11. Tvoje mesto spi
Lineup:
Dušan Prosinečki – vocals, guitar
Tomaž Zorko – guitar, backing vocals
Tomaž Repinc – bass guitar
Alen Tibiljaš – drums, percussion
Guest musicians:
Jani Hace – bass guitar (all tracks)
Janez Križaj – synthesizers, percussion, pre-production
Davor Klarič- track no. 10
Robi Pikl – tracks no. 7 and 10
Marjan Turk – track no. 3
Tomaž Maras – track no. 1
