Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Vogelnik, Brina & Dovč, Janez
Label: Celinka
Released: 2014
Runtime: 46:43
Rating: 4.5/5
Janez Dovč and Brina Vogelnik are two heavyweight artistic figures. Together they’ve formed a new creative partnership, and it has given birth to a new musical project. »Pomladne sanje« is the album that came out of this collaboration. Pairings like this are always a guarantee of one-of-a-kind expression.
The album »Pomladne sanje« is an example of superb symbiosis between two artistic entities, their musical worlds blending thrillingly into a single, unique whole. On this album Janez Dovč shows off all his multilayered artistry and his multifaceted musical sensibility, his wit, in short, his unbridled imagination. He built most of the arrangements and melodies and put his wide-ranging musical character on full display. He played practically every instrument on the album himself and created an exceptionally layered soundscape, in which Brina Vogelnik’s vocal performance is wrapped.
Even though Brina Vogelnik “modestly” contributed only the vocals, the musical backdrop would never be so expressively intensified in its basic ideas if it weren’t brought to full-blooded life by Brina’s very special voice. Brina is also the half of this project that supplied all the lyrics (except for the setting of Pesem o zvezdah, which belongs to Tone Pavček). Brina is a seasoned mistress of the theater, of slipping into the many guises of characters within countless artistic scenarios, or, broadly speaking, of the challenges she sets herself as an artist. Once again the bond between the performer and the creator of the message of this musical poetry is exceptional! You can hardly reach deeper, more genuinely, or more intensely into the well of truthfulness. That’s precisely Brina Vogelnik’s winning ace, and in this case, the ace of the album »Pomladne sanje«.
This time, then, the musical confession spoke at full volume. In the musical landscape they created, the two artists found their sweet spot, where they could fully unfurl their ideas of a free-spirited take on the musical universe of expression.
»Pomladne sanje« is an album of gentle, fragile, vividly measured movements with great expressive flexibility. Even though the mellow, cheerful musical backdrop of colliding instruments doesn’t fluctuate much across the album, Brina Vogelnik’s exceptional vocal flexibility is, in this case, the driving engine of the record’s great dynamic flow, and in the same breath of a colorful collision of countless moods that blend thrillingly into a lively musical body! It’s her voice, full of sensitive tenderness, where feelings from longing to playful exuberance sparkle flawlessly, that works like a mirror, capturing with all its sensitivity the perceptible inner life of the human individual and their responses to the stimuli around them. Every one of Brina’s vocal “stimuli” is tangible, and with all that captured sincerity on display, it literally shakes the listener! The musician’s perceptiveness is extraordinary and it’s the biggest charm of this record. We can say Brina has laid her soul completely bare on these songs, which is both the greatest strength of the album’s message and its greatest quality.
Brina’s voice sways throughout on the gentle backdrop of a rolling musical landscape, created by the organic, warm-toned blankets of electric piano, synthesizers and accordion. Here and there this landscape is (when needed) delicately and precisely contrasted with concise touches of percussion, which serve to unobtrusively mark the pulse (the rhythms). Dovč often fills the background with gorgeous improvised accordion inserts, yet he keeps subordinating all of this to maintaining the full-hearted musicality of the songs’ musical form (Tivoli).
Musically speaking, the opener “Raj” builds its musicality on elements of blues. It’s driven by the contrast between a simple line of lower tones and Brina’s lead vocal, while added vocal phrases thicken the atmosphere in the background, serving as an extra instrument, which, combined with the lead vocal, builds to the song’s atmospheric closing crescendo. The album is positive and optimistic in its verses from start to finish. The next one, »Pesem o zvezdah«, already feels dreamy yet folksy, about accepting the differences between us (every individual is a self-contained, unique and unrepeatable whole), which resonates with the deep vision (in the case of this chosen »peace-minded« setting) of the timeless figure of Pavček’s poetry. “Sredi noči” holds on to the vibe of the previous song, and the yearning dreaminess of its feelings hits just a touch harder here. The night simply has its power.
The more Brina’s voice is draped in the gentle caress of the veils of Janez Dovč’s chosen soundscape, the more magnified the emotions in the verses become, and the more intensely each individual song lands in delivering its message.
There are moments where the cabaret element is more pronounced, like the cheekily playful songs »Sončni dan« and »V pesku«. A strong contrast comes with the song »Luknja«, where Dovč’s accordion fits like a glove alongside Brina Vogelnik’s even more deeply felt delivery of the verses. This is one of those moments where, through the chosen arrangements, that character of melos sparks more intensely, creating a tangible link to the traditional folk melos typical only of Slovenian soil. An exceptionally intimate love confession and one of the album’s strongest moments. A trembling counterpart to this song comes instantly with the especially tenderly sung “Srce”, which stresses the vulnerability of the human soul in the disappointment of lost love. It seeks salvation in a spiritual and emotional renewal, in a newly found meaning of personal existence, which the playful “V pesku” then sketches out in contrast later on the album. It announces great joy in life and in experiencing it, when you realize you’ve found your way back onto your true path.
The feeling is that the album unfolds in lessons from shorter circles of life, which we travel through on our way! These are closed into one big circle of life, opened by birth and concluded by the fulfillment of the individual’s mission. Even though this album is a project of two musical entities, in terms of Brina Vogelnik’s contribution it works as her personal confessional ID card and is therefore largely singer-songwriterly. As already mentioned, her exceptional credibility comes from the strong poetic form of the messages in the verses, as well as the incredible power of her deeply lived delivery, which gives meaning to the many life trials within the album’s vivid musical confession.
This album brings a true spring awakening. Of everything we perceive and experience around us. It arrives right on time. It stirs you up, floods the empty corners of our souls with a spring of bubbling emotion, and warms us up after winter hibernation, so that we can set our thoughts in motion again toward creative acts and the realization of our goals. It’s an exceptional achievement, one that doesn’t merely illustrate the extraordinary chemistry between the musical-artistic geniuses Brina Vogelnik and Janez Dovč, but whose added value is its unique mission of sensitively delivering those essential messages to the listener that lead to a great spiritual and emotional renewal. An album of exceptional depth and breadth of expression that can help you grow. So go on, let yourself sink into it.
Line-up
Brina Vogelnik – vocals
Janez Dovč – accordion , fender rhodes, double bass, ukulele, synthesizers, hammond organ, sound effects, backing vocals
Production
Janez Dovč & Brina Vogelnik
Track list
1. Raj
2. Pesem o zvezdah
3. Sredi noči
4. Sončni dan
5. Luknja
6. Srce
7. v pesku
8. Pomladne sanje
9. Roža
10. Tivoli
11. The Still Of The Night
