Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Junema
Label: Celinka
Release: 2018
Length: 42:40
Rating: 4/5
“Ko se ustavi čas” is the studio debut from Junema. Last year the band started going after Slovenian radio airwaves more ambitiously, and the single V intervalu večnih sanj earned them the flattering title of song of the week on Val 202. Junema are basically a classic »derivative« of Slovenian pop music, focused on fusing elements of cabaret, pop musicality, even Latin rhythms (opener Paradoks) and Latin sonic shades, and there’s definitely some flirting with alternative rock impulses too. But all within the bounds of »normal«. What does that mean? Throwing a bunch of genre crossovers into the melting pot, the band has successfully woven a musical ID card with an identity all its own, one that blends those genres effectively and brings them together in an open, deeply conciliatory dialogue.
On the debut, the Junema quartet sounds confident, tight, in tune. They breathe for the same cause and reach for one musical vision. Guitarist Luka Snoj writes the lyrics, which the refined vocalist Neža Trošt sings, interprets and calls to life with remarkable sensitivity and deep feeling. Neža’s voice keeps captivating the listener with confessional gentleness and a fragile, almost virginal tenderness.
A varied, lively passion play of eleven original tracks, this record shows off a fully formed songwriting identity. The album speaks in a relaxed, easygoing, soft voice, and thanks to that softness it’s actually seriously tantalizing. Now and then, in a subtle way, a jazzy pastel is woven into the arrangements, mostly thanks to the playfulness of a piano that’s lively, bared and unrestrained throughout. While some tracks eye jazz from a distance (the piano), the electric guitar, filling the available sonic landscape of the songs no less actively, adds distant hints of trendy, conciliatory alternative rock to the arrangements, let’s just say indie rock. The melodies and the lead tunes sound typically Slovenian. “Ko se ustavi čas” couldn’t sound more Slovenian if it tried. That musical pop catchiness and indie rock sentiment, which comes across unpretentious and now and then, from the »background«, gives the songs some arrangement lift, communicate brilliantly in the track Odčarana. Even when the guitar steps into the spotlight, meaning in the mid-eight passages (solos), it stays soft and sonically excellent, effectively holding on to the fragile, feeling tenderness that clings to the album’s tracks, and whose main generator is Neža’s voice anyway. In fact the whole band plays extremely softly and delicately as it tackles the album’s business, masterfully »chasing« the confessional nature of Neža’s vocals.
The band can lull and seduce the listener especially intensely in the extra-sophisticated tracks, like Le bdi, where Neža’s superb performance floats in an exceptionally strong chorus on a wave of synth curtains, and the song hits its atmospheric peak. Junema head toward that peak by building up a mystical mood. Slowly. From verse to chorus. Compositionally highly refined and polished. The creative variety in the interplay of sonic pastels across eleven polished songs, led by Neža Trošt’s vocals, reveals that Junema are seasoned musicians with a well-developed vision as songwriters and composers. “Ko se ustavi čas” is an album that doesn’t hide the fact that the songs on it ripened and developed over a longer time. Simply because they’re arranged incredibly well and, compositionally, also unbelievably varied in their motifs. That’s why the album keeps developing dynamically and holds the listener close throughout, and its biggest draw is precisely the softness and feeling refinement with which the musicians approach the interpretation of the eleven tracks.
Lineup
Neža Trošt – vocals
Luka Snoj – acoustic and classical guitar
Marko Ovčak – electric guitar, backing vocals
Blaž Vehar – bass guitar
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Anja Pavlin – backing vocals
Miha Renčelj – piano on tracks 2, 4, 6 and 7
Ivo Rimc – drums on tracks 2, 5 and 6
Damjan Lebeničnik – drums on tracks 3 and 9
Primož Malenšek – percussion on tracks 2 and 6
Stephan Emig – drums on track 7
Nace Kogej – saxophone on track 10
Production
Igor Ilić, Peter Penko & Igor Bračič
