Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Drevored
Label: Nika Records
Release: 2017
Length: 38:33
Rating: 4.5/5
Drevored are a rock band from Lower Carniola, based in Novo mesto. Seven years after their studio debut »Dekade«, they’re back with its follow-up, »Na zahod«. That’s a hefty gap between albums, but the best part is still to come. The band actually formed way back in 1979, yet thanks to a string of circumstances never managed to get an album out until 2010. They closed their first era in 1989, reactivated in 2008, and finally put out that debut.
The predecessor »Dekade« introduced Drevored as a quartet with a clearly crafted musical focus, one that chases sonic perfectionism and that organic flexibility, softness and analog suppleness so often missing among »too-easily-satisfied« Slovenian acts: a thoroughly three-dimensional, dynamically alive soundscape where the pastel building blocks of the sound picture melt into one another and coexist in remarkable balance. Since the tracks on »Dekade« were collected over a span of 31 years, it’s an extremely mature and polished achievement. In songwriting and substance, from head to toe. Melancholic rock’n’roll, with an undeniable charm of pop catchiness and a pinch of blues eroticism, delivered by the pleasant voice of Dušan Prosinečki. »Po Dolenjsko«. Even though the artistic dividing line between Dan D and Drevored is clear, the melancholy both bands serve up on record is occasionally very close kin. And »Na zahod« continues its predecessor’s musical story in every sonic and compositional respect of the band’s musical vision.
»Na zahod« shamelessly announces, too, that Drevored have always been, artistically speaking, in awe of bands like Eagles, and you can also pick up traces of southern rock representatives like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot or The Outlaws. Plain and simple. First and foremost, the kinship lies in the sound of the guitars in the production and the tempting dressing-up of melodies with multi-part vocal harmonies (always an extremely demanding element for Slovenians, and one few can handle). And also when you look at how the compositions are structured. Especially when the album hits tracks like Vlak, Motel and Amerika, where the band’s strength in the sensual sophistication of layered arrangements is revealed even more fully. They build the sound on an accompaniment mixing semi-acoustic and acoustic guitar tones, where a noticeable »jangle« moment stands out, along with a melodically dynamic, upfront bass leg, solid rhythmic structures, and here and there an atmosphere boost from the warm, chocolatey sound of Hammond organ. The band also understands very well what a graded build-up of moods in a song means (Kdo ukradel mi je zvezde). And above all this, of course, the listener is addressed throughout, at the very heart of the Drevored story, by Dušan’s beautiful voice. It’s constantly devoted to a full-blooded, deeply lived vocal interpretation.
When you listen to »Na zahod«, you’ll run into an interesting phenomenon. The closer the album gets to the end, the more it grabs you and the more intensely it speaks to you. Especially in the run of four consecutive tracks: Vlak, Motel, Zunaj pada sneg and the closer Amerika. The band has also detailed the mid-eight passages with great skill, where a song often swerves into a melody modulation and then fluidly steers the composition back to the final chorus, or pre-chorus.
I mentioned that Drevored are also masters of multi-part vocal harmonies. In the arrangements they slot them into the compositions with incredible skill, which strengthens the vibrant moods of the songs. »Na zahod« is an album they’ve managed to infuse with a touch of mysticism too. The opener Ona mirno spi already points to it. It’s a track that departs from the rest of the album both in its rhythmic key and in the very melos of the lead phrases. In its »planted« Celtic melos it addresses the listener in a solemnly mystical mood. The current fashionable train of “indie pop rock rhetoric” is chased on the album by Ptice letijo v neznano, even though such labels are somewhat thankless in Drevored’s case. What we have here is a classic rock album with a refined pop seasoning and pronounced moments of southern rock and bluesy brooding. In other words, the principle of musical composition typical of the front line of Slovenian rock in the late seventies and eighties. In new times, of course, artistically mature and polished.
Yes. »Na zahod« is an extremely good album. And it grows on you gradually, more and more with every spin in the CD player. Its strength, or rather its optimized use of the »less is more« axiom, is outstanding. Full, sensual. The album offers a pile of potential hits, especially if this were still the eighties. The songs practically compete over which one will steal the album’s spotlight, especially when you run into a composition like Kdo ukradel mi je zvezde. A prime evergreen hit candidate (of course, if we were living through the eighties once more).
Drevored can’t exactly boast a rich discography. But both »Dekade« and now »Na zahod«, one after the other, show the incredible songwriting power, or songwriting-composing talent, of Dušan Prosinečki (Tomaž Zorko also contributed two original songs), and the multi-layered musical polish of a quartet that subordinates everything to the elementary core of achieving sonic perfection and seductive musical value. »Na zahod« is a lesson for every Slovenian act trying to knock longingly on the door of mainstream radio. In that respect, Drevored should be one of the pillars of healthy mainstream (pop) rock in Slovenia, and let’s hope the national radio frequencies grant them that recognition. On top of that, this reviewer can’t get over how Dušan Prosinečki’s finely honed, soulful “songwriter” talent is still such a well-kept musical secret in Slovenia.
Even though the year has barely begun, »Na zahod« is one of the first candidates for best rock’n’roll Slovenian album of 2017! And yes, we want more, even if another decade goes by! What matters is substance, and in that department Drevored neither can nor will disappoint.
One more thing. Minor, but still. The poetry, meaning the message of this album’s poetry, ties into the fact that the young generation of Slovenians is once again facing the search for happiness in life “out west”. So? History teaches us nothing. This isn’t the first generation of Slovenians, and obviously not the last. Heading west, including to the North American continent, in search of opportunity. No, the album isn’t a concept album, but you can sense a red thread of message continuity running between the songs.
Drevored – Ona mirno spi (official audio):
Lineup
Dušan Prosinečki – vocals, guitar
Tomaž Zorko – guitar, vocals
Andrej Zupančič – bass guitar
Alen Tibiljaš – drums
Production
Maras Tomaž Mot & Mike Poole
Tracklist
1. Ona mirno spi
2. Smo le ljudje
3. Nasvidenje v naslednji vojni
4. Kdo ukradel mi je zvezde
5. Moje stopinje
6. Ptice letijo v neznano
7. Zares
8. Vlak
9. Motel
10. Zunaj pada sneg
11. Amerika
