Label: Dallas Records
Release year: 2018
Production: Denis Horvat & Jure Lesar
Album length: 33.03
Genre: Singer / Songwritter
Jure Lesar is a musician of big ideas. With his debut album “Zemljin sin,” he steps into the role of singer-songwriter. His musical path is inseparably tied to Eskobars, who kicked up quite a bit of dust on the Slovenian rock scene with their studio debut “Eskobars” (2010) and its follow-up “Ni dovolj!” (2014). This was a band that delivered a real step up in quality and showed outstanding potential to reach even higher. Well, that never happened. Eskobars were sent off into “hibernation,” Jure’s buddy Teo Collori started trying his hand at gypsy swing, and Jure Lesar decided to test himself as a singer-songwriter. “Zemljin sin” is really a continuation of the story that stalled at the point where his band Eskobars left off.
The album “Zemljin sin” (you’ll find a song with that name on Eskobars’ debut album) reflects a remarkable artistic leap forward in Jure Lesar’s evolution as an artist. In every respect. As a poet, as a composer, and as a producer too, if you like. The guy made his musical talents clear back when he was writing music for Eskobars, and “Zemljin sin” pushes that bar of quality and confessional depth even higher. Although “Zemljin sin” can broadly be labeled an alternative rock achievement of Slovenian origin, the foundation of that feeling is first and foremost the vocal metrics and vocal melos. If I split hairs a little further, it’s not hard to pick up that Jure hails from somewhere near the Slovenian coast. It’s down to the occasional telltale accent (those wide E’s), which, on the flip side, gratefully strengthens the singer’s distinctive vocal character.
Otherwise, “Zemljin sin” offers a pronounced spectrum of idea-driven detours and plenty of compositional variety. We’re talking about an alternative rock album with an indie flair that on one hand courts radio airplay (touches of pop), while also being graced with an extremely refined aesthetic in how it combines compositional moves, giving the album a character of uniqueness, individuality, and originality. So the label art rock fits as a secondary tag too.
The nine tracks on the album are something Jure long, devotedly, and persistently polished and pieced together in the glow of fine filigree work. The result is a very accomplished studio album. It also has a distinctly natural, organic sonic warmth and a remarkably crafty balance of all the building blocks of the soundscape, with Jure Lesar’s singer-songwriter vocal, stamped with his signature, stepping fully into the focal point. In timbre it has a recognizable mid-to-low register, accompanied now and then by a touch of nasal character (Oči očeta). Over the years Jure has become even more convincing in his vocal delivery, his voice has thickened a bit and turned a shade more velvety (Krila ptice). More mature. Same goes for the poetry itself, which is mostly personal and confessional and strongly intuitive in nature.
The album carries some points of compact rhythm. More than once you can’t miss the solid, charming swing that invites you to dance, as heard for example in the songs Drugačen or Oči očeta. The track Zemljin sin II, in its awakening, simmering glow, carries quite a few ties to folk music. It’s been touched by the breeze of the melos of Slovenian Istria, though that only reveals itself after repeated listens. The album closes with the cabaret chanson Šala, and Jure Lesar feels right at home in this role too. The track would be interesting as a duet with Ballader. In terms of genre, “Zemljin sin” owes some inspiration to the influences of Britpop and nineties indie rock, but those are just passing reference points for the reader, as to what they can “make out” for themselves from the substance of the album. The album’s character is its own and carries its own artistic stance. The opening track Čisto blizu sanj is an excellent intro, a superb opening catalyst. Short but woven very delicately (the sonic backdrop is remarkably full and rich and evokes a theatrical sense of dreaminess), it draws the listener into the special musical story laid out ahead of them. The songs build the atmosphere with a crescendo in the chorus melodies, as strongly emphasized in the song Krila ptice. Playfulness comes to the album back to back with the rock’n’roll jab Uspešen mož, followed by the playful, tingling funky acoustic adventure of Mestno kolo, where bursts of slide guitar skillfully fill the sonic space, as well as the previously mentioned Oči očeta.
Jure has enriched the musical landscape by integrating the sound of Hammond organ, clavinet, and even mellotron, which gives the album a distant yet familiar and warm echo of the sentiment of classic seventies rock culture, even of the days when The Beatles walked the planet. It gets especially close to those cited giants in the intimate Ko zmanjka moči, which captivates with a hugely appealing vocal performance, especially the dreamy character of the violin and piano arrangement.
“Zemljin sin” is a very good album. There’s no doubt about that. Hugely pleasing in its varied ideas and arrangements. Full of pithy musical substance and convincing compositional moves. That’s why it keeps developing dynamically as it follows Jure Lesar’s self-made, recognizable character of artistic maturing. So this is an album that adds a new sparkling pebble to the mosaic of the Slovenian rock pulse. With its distinct character and polish, it takes up its own place, full of tangible originality, in the crowded space of Slovenian musical acts, and its quality and refinement hint that Jure Lesar will surely come up with another very pleasing continuation of the story he began with the album “Zemljin sin.”
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.0 / 10
Track list:
1. Čisto blizu sanj
2. Krila ptice
3. Drugačen
4. Uspešen mož
5. Mestno kolo
6. Oči očeta
7. Ko zmanjka moči
8. Zemljin sin II
9. Šala
Lineup:
Jure Lesar – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, slide guitar on “Krila ptice” and Čisto blizu sanj, piano on “Ko zmanjka moči”, Hammond on “Zemljin sin II”, synth on “Čisto blizu sanj”, mellotron on “Šala”, backing vocals
Denis Horvat – piano, Hammond, bass guitar on “Mestno kolo” and “Zemljin sin II”, clavinet on “Uspešen mož”, backing vocals
David Morgan – drums, percussion
Zoran Čalić – slide guitar on ” Mestno kolo”, electric guitar on “Drugačen” and “Oči očeta”,
Jan Fanedl – electric guitar on “Ko zmanjka moči” and “Šala”
Luka Mrdakovič – bass on “Drugačen” and “Šala”
Lucy Passante – violin and viola on “Ko zmanjka moči”
Mitja Rozman – didgeridoo on “Mestno kolo”
