Dve

Author: Aleš Podbrežnik

Artist: Hamo & Tribute 2 Love
Label: Celinka
Release: 2013
Length: 59:23
Rating: 4/5

Matevž Šalehar, a.k.a. »Hamo«, is yet another Slovenian musician who has found the right niche in the Slovenian rock ‘n’ roll amusement park. From the days of Babewatch, through Mojo Hand, which grew into Tribute 2 Love, to the latest challenges in the combo Escape Quartet. Hamo is also a good sidekick to Gal Gjurin, and their song Črni konji čez nebo is probably still ringing loudly in your ears since 2010, as it was the most-played Slovenian song of that year.

So Hamo & Tribute 2 Love are introducing themselves with a debut. Finally. It had been simmering since 2006, which is why there’s a hefty 16 tracks on it. Naturally there’s »Do You Believe In Love«, which has stuck firmly with connoisseurs and fans of the band to this day, a hymn-like, preachy, all-round positive ode to joy and ode to love. Also present are the first single “Vija vaja ven”, released in 2011, and last year’s »Gremo se igrat boga«.

The thing that first “stings the ear” when it comes to Hamo and the vocal credentials on their résumé is, of course, a voice whose natural habitat you could instantly declare to be any ironworks, steel mill or coal mine. A voice that, in color and delivery, now and then pulls rather cleverly toward the British soul-blues rogue, the revered and planet-wide recognizable king of soul pop, Joe Cocker. It’s precisely this quirk, and above all an exceptional feel for fully living inside the different emotional moods dictated by the messages of the verses,  that is the key element creating the remarkable variety – let’s just call it coloring – of the otherwise strictly staked-out form of blues music, which is the basic starting point of inspiration for Tribute 2 Love’s music.

 Matevž Hamo Šalehar is a gifted musician, as hinted at by the prestigious award too, the first place won at the Slovenska popevka 2012 qualifying round with the song Ti prihajaš. Big charisma, a passionate charge in the vocals, which with their occasionally raspy roughness and unabashedly macho mojo coax the very best out of hard-hitting rock blues rhetoric. Hamo is the tipping point on the scales, and with a vocal presence unique on the Slovenian scene, shakes up the whole idea of Tribute 2 Love to the point where the band brings a remarkable breath of fresh air to the Slovenian music scene.

At times you could sum up the whole point of Hamo & Tribute 2 Love bluntly: it’s a musical experience not far from dropping Cocker into a stripped-down version of  the Allman Brothers Band’s musical backdrop. If you pour the meaty, tangible substance of the Allman Brothers Band’s evergreen musical legacy authentically through your own prism of musical talents, nothing can really go wrong. And that’s exactly how Hamo approaches it with Tribute 2 Love.  Hamo has gathered a crew of outstanding musicians around them.. You can feel that the guys have known each other for a long time, that the bonds have grown into a remarkably palpable entity in the musical body of Tribute 2 Love, and that all the building blocks of the same story ignite on the same wavelength – they reinforce each other in idea and execution. That’s the most important thing for the album »Dve« to work at all. And it works to the fullest. From head to toe. The blues rock rhetoric, driven by the rattling soul mane of the rough charm of Hamo’s vocals, convinces and grabs you instantly with the opener Scotch, and keeps up that seductive stance until the first song laid down in Slovenian. That’s the first single,  Vija Vaja Ven, where I realize that Hamo’s voice works differently in Slovenian. The most fitting messenger for the “softer” infatuation with a sensitive side of vocal interpretation is the sensual lullaby of brilliant melodic solutions,  Gremo se igrat boga, which is also the current single, and at the same time stands absolutely apart from the rest of the material, both in the arrangements and in the vocal delivery, since it keeps little contact with the blues rhetoric that the band otherwise generally favors in its expressive character.

The backing delivers an absolutely organic principle. The meaty retro sound of the band’s blues rock approach is further built up by keyboards using a Hammond sound. The production is dynamic, breathes live, and offers an appealing blend of warm colors and a lovely arrangement of the building blocks of the sonic picture, which keep Hamo’s charismatic vocal front and center.

There are sixteen songs. Regardless of the fact that Hamo is a skilled helmsman who successfully shakes up the basic backdrop of the accompaniment with their vocal flexibility, it’s still slightly bothersome to realize that the number of chosen tracks  is too high for an album. The genre mold the band spins in allows only a certain number of moves. By track number 16, even though it’s the “slammed-out” cheeky Rožice, the listener gets mildly tired, There are also spots with some room left for improvement. For instance track two already, Wish You Well, where the repeated hammering of the chorus line »Wish you well« gets in the way.

Otherwise, though, it’s an excellent piece of work for the most part. Hamo and their backing band spin in a musical groove they’ve mastered with their eyes closed, and that’s where they’re strongest, and that’s how they present themselves on the album »Dve« too. As long as the magnet of a toxically sinful intoxication reigns in a passionately wicked charge, offered by the energetic vibe of »Heart To Play On« (Uroš Primužič on vocals, with a “gentler” shade of color!) or Country (Still In Love), it’s clear that Hamo & Tribute 2 Love have by no means said their last word.And Lost My Faith with a touch of The Rolling Stones’ contours, or the funky springboard in Lady G? Nothing to complain about. “Dve” generously keeps the fun flowing across 16 tracks.

Line-up

Matevž “Hamo” Šalehar – vocals, backing vocals, harmonica, guitar, keyboards, percussion
Jani Baš – keyboards, backing vocals
Uroš Primužič “Spretan” – guitar, vocals (5), backing vocals, percussion
Uroš Škerl Kramberger – bass guitar, backing vocals
Martin Janežič “Buco” – drums, percussion, backing vocals

GUEST MUSICIANS:
Barabara Dodić – backing vocals
Vesna Potokar – backing vocals
Denis Horvat – keyboards, bass guitar, backing vocals
Zoran Ćalić – guitar
Matej Mršnik – guitar
Miha Šalehar – guitar
Jože Bogolin – marimba
Pevski bor “Sirene” – vocal choir

Production

Matevž Hamo Šalehar, Uroš Primužič, Matej Gobec, Denis Horvat, Tim Urbanja & Gal Gjurin

Tracklist