Release date: June 16, 2019
Label: Multi-Polar Music
Production: Lonny Ziblat
Length: 33:41
Genre: folk/pop rock
Rating: 7.5/10
“Dream Hunting” is the third solo album from Dutch singer, guitarist and songwriter Lionel ‘Lonny’ Ziblat, longtime frontman of the progressive rock band Modest Midget. After two interesting albums, Modest Midget split up and Ziblat focused on a solo career. “Dream Hunting” won’t exactly thrill his prog rock followers, since it’s an acoustic-leaning album that mostly blends folk and pop rock. Most of the tracks run between two and three minutes. The mostly simple guitar arrangements are accompanied by occasional effects and Ziblat’s often chameleon-like singing, which suits a whole range of genres well. He played all the instruments on “Dream Hunting” himself, except for two tracks where he needed a drummer and a bassist.
Opener “Healing” is an upbeat little folk number that doesn’t leave much of an impression. “Outta Sight”, where Ziblat’s psychedelic-leaning vocals get more room to shine, is a pop creation with a Beatles-esque feel to most of the arrangements and a slightly cheeky pulse. “Barby Q”, one of the few more interesting moments on “Dream Hunting”, is an unabashedly commercial pop piece that, with some synth arrangements added, would sound like it was made in the early eighties. Because Ziblat’s voice bears a slight resemblance to Trevor Horn, who in his day also loved to use a vocoder, it even veers a little toward the cult band The Buggles.
“Lost and Found” is the most prog-leaning piece on the album, but apart from the odd playful moment it has nowhere near the colorful arrangements and rhythmic complexity we were used to from Modest Midget. “Another Day”, at five minutes the longest track on the album, was, according to Ziblat, inspired by Radiohead. Amid minimalist symphonic arrangements and a sleepy mood, Ziblat’s vocals do veer a bit toward Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. “Days of Peace”, where lead vocals are taken over by Ziblat’s friend Magdalena Golebiowska, is another simple little folk song with gentle acoustic guitar and glockenspiel arrangements that could easily pass for a children’s lullaby.
“Lady Witch”, the album’s darkest and very ‘English’ moment, is a socially critical recital. “Phony Baits”, where Ziblat occasionally ‘shifts’ into falsetto, is another troubadour-style folk piece. “A Little Secret”, a deeply confessional song, was dedicated to Ziblat’s father Hector, who died in 2011. “Stuck” features the ukulele, an instrument Ziblat picked up before recording the album and whose sound reminded him of penguins, the inhabitants of Patagonia, which belongs to Argentina, the country of his birth.
“Dream Hunting” is a very solid, mostly ambient, ‘still-life’ and personal folk/pop rock album that mainly reflects Ziblat’s versatility as a songwriter and his genre-free approach. Everything is sung and played with palpable fervor, although the album as a whole comes across as rather sleepy. Fans of Ziblat’s more complex achievements from his days with the unpredictable and experimental Modest Midget, who in their short run rightly won plenty of sympathy among ‘prog lovers’, won’t be overly thrilled by what they hear, while thanks to its ‘sacred simplicity’ it could appeal to plenty of music fans who have never even heard of progressive rock.
Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Healing
2. Outta Sight
3. Barby Q
4. Lost & Found
5. Another Day
6. Days of Peace
7. Lady Witch
8. Phony Baits
9. A Little Secret
10. Stuck
Musicians:
Lonny Ziblat – lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, Spanish guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, MIDI programming, glockenspiel, percussion, ukulele
Magdalena Golebiowska – backing vocals, lead vocals on “Days of Peace”
Fernando Fictivovich – bass guitar on “Outta Sight”
Sven Fictivesen – drums on “Outta Sight” and “Lost & Found
