Naked : Yes

Label: Narrator Records
Release year: 2018
Production: Voja Aralica
Album length: 61.24
Genre: Ethno / Jazz

Naked are an all-instrumental cross-over outfit from Belgrade. They’re a band that throws a whole pile of interesting genre starting points into the pot of their musical vision. Those starting points gravitate toward a one-of-a-kind musical expression and, not least, a sound that defines the band’s identity. They’re seasoned players, active since 2008, and “Yes” is their third album overall. In the time leading up to its release the band evolved and sharpened its expression even further. Even with a lineup change, they clearly established their own songwriting and arranging identity.

No need to stress that the album is a conglomerate of full-blooded musical “Balkanography”. Elements of ethno and world music intertwine, and the “stumbling” rhythms of 7/9, 8/9 and so on teem with upheavals… all the way to jazz swing. One of the band’s key means of expression is the vivid use of the violin, which slyly fuses highly infectious classical elements with authentic principles of Romani melos.

You won’t easily find such a free-spirited album in the quest for full-blooded expressive swing, least of all if you add a completely unique character, or rather a bold touch of eclecticism. The ethno note is clear, and through its varied use the violin even imitates the sound of traditional folk instruments. Track three, Čaršija, is one such tune. In that sense the violin can also stand in for the guitar on the album. The band doesn’t need a guitar in the lineup at all, and you don’t miss it for a second. As a contrast and an extremely important atmospheric counterweight, the tracks feature an incredibly active, piercing bass. It spreads its wings with great skill at just the right moments, and with witty, well-placed melodies it fills the available space in the songs (e.g. the intro Kuča od blata). The sax, clarinet and violin phrase their way through memorable melodies, always in tight harmonies and a brilliant weave of communication. The woodwind line and the violin line can split off, each to its own end, then suddenly come back together in harmonic unison. Cizmarsh is an incredible musical mix that shows just how strong a collective Naked are. Powerful in expression!

That musical character keeps the doors wide open for the band to play in Slovenia, too. You can easily slot them into the programming of festivals like Okarina or Druga Godba, as well as those that like to surprise with programming “exotica” (Jazz Cerkno, Sajeta). Naked are eclectic, and thanks to the free-spirited jazz logic the band has adopted and internalized, the songs on “Yes” unfold in a glow of spontaneity and unexpected turns. At the same time, it’s incredible how Naked stay so listenable and musically accessible.

The funny thing is that, for all the witty rhythmic and musical punch of their very own “crossover experiment”, Naked remain an incredibly accessible and listenable tandem on “Yes”. All that clever playing, full of swaggering jams and tricks for fusing musical ideas. Through it all, the southern feel for rhythm deserves special mention. Naked carry rhythm in their blood. It’s the kind of rhythm that, even without a melody, draws out hearty, vivid temperament and emotion. It lifts you up while you listen and nudges you into swaying along automatically… In short: it’s hard to stand still when you listen to “Yes”.

Naked are a band you absolutely have to see live. “Yes” is an achievement that fills the listener with energy from start to finish. It stirs up all kinds of feelings and emotions, and it’s an album that moves you emotionally. Really moves you. Despite all the playfulness of this remarkably lucid and unbridled playing from this outstanding quartet, the record also lays bare the bitter, internalized character of pain and melancholy that has hung over the Balkan Peninsula for centuries. The pain is here. It’s right there in plain sight, tightening around your heart like a thorn and tearing at it. There’s no escaping it. No. This isn’t just symbolism. It’s reality, and this superb album translates it so authentically and honestly, all of it. However you look at it, we Slovenes have always been steeped in the energetic vibes south of the Kolpa. We pick up on that world quickly, we sense it, it’s close to us. It always has been. And when you listen to “Yes”, it carries you flawlessly far, far down into the heart of the Balkans and even further south. “Yes” is an incredible ethno jazz record that will take you over and put a spell on you. When it comes to the eclecticism of a provocatively bold character in musical art expression, few come close to Naked.

“Dave Bruebeck, who?!?! Ha, ha.”

author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 9.5 / 10

GUEST MUSICIAN
Tal Tula Ben Ari – vocals on tracks 11, 12 and 13