Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Avtomobili
Label: ZKP RTV Slovenija
Released: 2012
Runtime: 41:25
Rating: 4/5
What’s the rush with »Pozna pomlad«? Avtomobili have all the time in the world. The band, which hit its commercial peak sometime in the first half of the nineties of the last millennium, is finally back with a new studio album after a six-year studio break.
Its predecessor, »Mesta železniških postaj«, came out in 2006. A superb album, honestly the most mature record the art-rock craft of Avtomobili had produced up to 2006, in every aspect of their expression. It was a masterpiece on which the fantastic Nova Gorica guitarist Alan Jakin left his mark one last time, as his epitaph, because shortly after the album was recorded he was hit by real bad luck. The evergreen Avtomobili, still a daily pick on every major radio station in Slovenia, faced a make-or-break problem. Who the hell was going to step into the band and, with their know-how, experience and genius, fill the huge pair of boots Jakin left empty when he went?
Much sooner than anyone could have expected, the band found its answer in Boštjan Andrejc “Bushi”. Bushi is a seasoned veteran. Before Avtomobili he played in Night Jump, HeaveniX, Terra Mystica, Skunk Funk, The Rolling Stoned, and with artists like Jan Plestenjak and Tinkara Kovač. Just run your eyes over those names and you can quickly conclude that Bushi hides a real versatility and many layers, and that is exactly what Avtomobili need. And that’s not all. Touch matters. The fate of Avtomobili’s musical statement has always been tied to a sophisticated guitar touch that reached down to the bottom of the soul, with the unpretentious depth of pure rock vibration. If Jakin was above all a guitarist of concept, who over the years shaped the recognizable form of his playing and with it the chunky part of Avtomobili’s musical artistry, Bushi brought even more experimentation and expressive variety to Avtomobili. It also became clear pretty quickly that Bushi is a seeker of organic colors, authentic and natural tonal colors. He doesn’t scatter notes all over the place; he picks them carefully and shapes them into a meaningful whole of any improvised body. That’s one more virtue of this musician, and it lifts him out of the dozen Slovenian guitarists who count among the greatest masters of guitar playing in Slovenia.
Bushi is a perfectionist too, just like Alan Jakin. Well, Bushi was forged in Night Jump, who were known for tackling Pink Floyd covers, and once you brush up against David Gilmour and slowly sink into him, it’s clear you gradually mold yourself into a professor of sophistication. Of course you need talent and willpower for that. Bushi has both in abundance. And more! Besides his guitar playing, Bushi also brought his voice to the band. In Night Jump the guy imitated, very successfully, the vocals of the biggest rock throats on the planet, from Led Zeppelin to Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Cream, Thn Lizzy,… and Avtomobili have of course thoroughly made use of that on »Pozna pomlad«. Bushi first entered the band’s discography on the live release called »Klub klubov« (2008).
The times are new, and not exactly rosy. The new album, a reflection of the time we breathe in the »coconut shell of Šentflorjan«, is consequently the darkest album in the Avtomobili story. It’s a lot harder than its predecessor, and you can hear in the sound production that Bushi’s guitar looks much more directly for space for its art exposé than on the previous album, where Mirko Vuksanović’s keyboards took the dominant role in the accompaniment as well as in the occasional improvisation. So Pozna pomlad is more of a rock album than a pop one! Simple as that. Bushi’s guitar is much more prominent and cranked up in the sound. The hardness is also underlined by the use of keyboards (Kaj si hotel), which at points turn to a “Hammond-like” sound, the retro “chunkiness” of the good old days when rock was still young and innocent. And it works: first, it’s fascinating, second, somewhat surprising, and third, a sheer joy! That means »Pozna pomlad« is a special album, different from its predecessors. “Mission point 1” is thus accomplished for Avtomobili. They kept all their recognizable trademarks and at the same time puffed out a new, different album! That’s the path of healthy development along the evolutionary road of any rock band!
»Bar pozabe«, the opening track, flags the findings of the previous paragraph with its gloomy bent. The guitar kicks in rock-style with a higher dose of decibels than we’re used to from Avtomobili. Marko Vuksanović “comes in” with an almost deathly falsetto in the verse (in the pre-chorus a sound effect guides him, as if the voice were coming from a phone booth), with Bushi accompanying him, harmonizing Marko’s vocal in an almost duet-like range. The chorus confirms the harder implant of guitar playing, compared to what we’re used to from the band’s more pop-minded past work. The middle instrumental section offers a classic hard-rock solo outing from Bushi, while the song develops in a dramatic, cold mood. A fairly uncharacteristic song for Avtomobili, in fact against the expectations of any connoisseur of the band, and above all a surprising choice for the album opener. In contrast to the album opener, though, »Kaj si hotel«, which continues the album in a playful, mischievous rhythm, soon puts things back where we’d expect them! Between Marko’s lines in the verse there’s room that Bushi dynamically livens up with improvised short jazz-blues variations. In the compact chorus, with the typical Avtomobili melodic appeal, the rhythm gains solidity, as the percussion joins the rhythmic undercarriage of the song. The song is the second single off the album, and in the chorus it again makes no secret of flirting more with rock intensity compared to the band’s studio past.
»Lepotica dneva« is yet another gorgeous ballad in the band’s typical musical rhetoric (but for new times!), where Marko’s interpretation of the lines, in the singer’s recognizable, sensually sophisticated delivery, stands out more intensely for the first time. The recognizable sentiment of his poetry, which deeply combines a moment of nostalgia, wandering through memories of days gone that will never return, the gnawing of the tooth of time (not the tooth of the glass yet, at least not for now), the coexistence of perfect love and inner personal fulfillment. The beautiful chorus rises above all the building blocks and takes the lead, as Avtomobili manage to lay their recognizable attributes into the upper register, bringing the delicate subtlety of Marko’s poetry even closer, with the familiar pulse of melancholy and hidden longing. Judging by how the message develops in the lines, it’s not hard to conclude that “Lepotica dneva” is really the country of Slovenia (today), which deserves a better state!
After »Kaj si hotel«, »Moj mir« and, toward the end of the album, »Sladka svetloba« are a composed “twin pair” that could be on the short list of singles for heavy rotation on the radio airwaves. It’s the typical approach (established over the years) to composing, in the polished vocabulary of the band’s art-craft, where the compact and dynamic effect of chemical bonds and solid musical comradeship of the quintet is on full display.
The band took on setting Simon Gregorčič’s poem »Na bregu« to music. It’s silly to compare Gregorčič’s poetry with Marko Vuksanović, but you could easily believe that this time Marko himself wrote the lines of »Na bregu«. The song is a slight detour from the album in itself, with an almost folkloric-pastoral “Slovenian” country tune (the chorus), an interesting moment of musical exploration for the band – with its use of acoustics and confessional intimacy it borders on singer-songwriter territory, but it doesn’t bring to the album what the super-excellent »Netopir« does right after it (as mystical as can be – the mystique is created already by the opening figure of Mirko’s keyboards), after »Netopir« »Palme gorijo«, and after »Palme gorijo« the song »Poslušaj«, while the title track at the close is a chapter of its own anyway.»Netopir«, »Palme gorijo« and »Poslušaj« are the expressive “surplus” that we always quietly and eagerly look for and expect from Avtomobili’s artistry. This consecutive “triplet” reaches the central peak of the artistic, expressive face of the album »Pozna pomlad«. The personal, confessional, mystical Netopir has one of the most beautiful pairings of verse and chorus, with the obligatory crescendo in the chorus melody of a beautiful tune. »Palme gorijo« is armed with a Latin rhythmic grip, boldly deepened by the incorporation of percussion, and joined by the light jazzy meandering of Bushi’s guitar in the verse. Going by the “green tongue” poetry of Marko Vuksanović in this song, it’s clear this is a subtle plasma of disgust at human shortsightedness, which in its rapid transience destroys nature for a handful of money, above all at humanity’s complete estrangement from Mother Nature. Everything turns gray. The “faces disappearing” in the line are people without a character identity of their own. Bushi’s outro solo is excellently fitted, in the placement of its notes, to the light trot of the song, which carries, as already mentioned, a mild Latin sentiment, that is, a seaside feel. Bushi’s jazzy solo even stirs fleeting associations with Pat Metheny, especially from the »Still Life (Talking)« period, the second half of the eighties. It’s followed by the maximally positive Poslušaj. It’s the first single from the new album. It carries a simple, unobtrusive chorus that quickly wins the listener over. That’s the special Avtomobili element they have always handled so masterfully and skillfully, and which earned them a heap of unforgettable evergreen hits. It’s precisely in this song that the excellent blend of a one-of-a-kind coexistence of all the building blocks sparkles, confirming the band’s great working chemistry.
Above all, though, the last one, the closing »Pozna pomlad«, is the interesting one. It’s a mystical, maximally slowed-down waltz with deeply sad connotations. Marko’s personally, subtly soft and fragile note of confession is once again full-blooded. The song is interesting because it highlights the side of Bushi that Jakin was full of. And it shows most clearly why Bushi is a completely worthy replacement for Alan Jakin in every respect, in fact the best possible solution for the band! And where’s the key? In the “Gilmouresques”! In the outro, which is an extended instrumental dialogue between Mirko’s keyboards and Bushi’s refined plasma of strictly read yet masterfully bent, extended, stretched, “slid” notes, full of control and sophistication! At this point the two musicians build a gorgeous soundscape into the cold ending of the album that gives you instant chills! The band once again uses Bushi’s vocal, tastefully and effectively, to harmonize Marko’s. The peak, as mentioned, is the closing instrumental section of the song.
It’s this “tail” of the album that stirs the spirits and raises questions. Do Avtomobili dare to take one more step forward in expressiveness here? Toward “progressive” art rock? The next album will answer that question. They don’t need hits anymore, their status is solid and their standing has no expiration date for Avtomobili. They don’t have to prove themselves anymore. Now they can truly create in a relaxed, free, unburdened way, with full artistic yield! Let’s hope the musicians will challenge themselves as artists in the future and create an artistic upgrade of the album »Pozna pomlad«, which, with its otherwise ever-present “caution”, clearly betrays the feeling that Avtomobili can squeeze out even more interesting, we could even say provocatively unusual, but all their own, musical things.
On the Slovenian scene of mid-wave rock music, which is modestly and narrowly defined (as far as REAL rock bands go), there’s hardly a nicer male voice for pop rock than Marko Vuksanović’s. Marko is maturing like good old wine. His velvety voice has gained even more warmth and, over the years, thickened even more charmingly. And as such it remains the band’s basic trademark and recognizable element. The rhythm section, now the “squared Davids” (David Morgan plus David Šuligoj), is hugely dynamic, just the right amount of lively for the band’s artistry. Šuligoj once again deftly seasoned some parts of the album by filling the available space on bass guitar with finesse. His organic quality and natural sonic warmth come alive especially in a song like »Kaj si hotel«, where his exuberant funk grooves set a solid form for the accentuated rhythmic texture of the drums combined with percussion (the “cowbell” in the chorus), and the drumming fully comes alive in the song Kaj si hotel. On this front, since David Morgan arrived, we can once again talk about a real group spirit in the band. The songs are more intensely rock-driven than ever, the sound keeps its organic quality and warmth, the building blocks fit together in optimal symbiosis, and the guitar steps into the role of sonic accompaniment, as well as into the plasma of “embellishments”, even more generously than on »Mesta železniških postaj«, with even greater variety of arrangement solutions, which keeps the door wide open for Avtomobili to nurture their artistry in the future. Pop accessibility remains the trademark, but this time the rock edge noticeably pushes it away. In the newcomer Bushi, Mirko Vuksanović has found an excellent partner for building soundscapes, and the dialogue between the two never runs dry of inventiveness and insightful solutions in refined arranging. Let’s hope he’ll dare to reach even further in improvisational trickery and the artistry of arranging lead motifs in the future.
»Pozna pomlad« is a reflection of exceptional maturity and seasoning, and the word spring sums up that in the hearts of these guys, which the Vuksanović brothers certainly won’t deny, there still burns a blazing fire of great creative passion and striving toward many goals waiting to be realized. »Pozna pomlad« is an exceptionally fine pop rock album of unique artistry, a musical craft from the unique hands of Avtomobili. “Good thing we have them!”, says my worthy colleague Jernej Vene, the well-known friendly voice of Radio Val 202! Avtomobili, of course.
Let’s hope the band puts together the next album a little faster. Within three years of »Pozna pomlad« at the latest. The team spirit is on a firmly unified creative frequency. May it stay that way and create many more timeless documents like the album »Pozna pomlad«. You can feel that this lineup can reach even higher and even further in artistry.
Lineup
Marko Vuksanović – vocals
Boštjan Andrejc “Bushi” – guitar, backing vocals
Mirko Vuksanović – keyboards
David Šuligoj – bass guitar, backing vocals
David Morgan – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Rok Škarabot – percussion on tracks 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9
Marko Lasič – drums on tracks 5 and 6
Rudi Bučar – backing vocals on track 5
Production
Mirko Vuksanović & David Šuligoj
Track list
1. Bar pozabe
2. Kaj si hotel
3. Lepotica dneva
4. Moj mir
5. Na bregu
6. Netopir
7. Palme gorijo
8. Poslušaj
9. Sladka svetloba
10. Pozna pomlad
