Artist: Smolar, Adi
Label: 57 Records
Release: 2011
Running time: 42:43
Rating: 4/5
The best proof of that claim is Adi Smolar himself. From his debut, the album Naš svet se pa vrti, way back in 1989, which shot him out of obscurity, to today in 2011, we can fairly say that Adi is one of the leading singer-songwriters in Slovenian music. Over thirty years he has served us no fewer than twelve studio albums, packed with a pile of songs that have become almost folk classics. Who doesn’t remember tracks like Dvajset Ljubic, Neprilagojen, Pasji dnevi, Bognedaj da bi crknil televizor, Je treba delat, Pornografska stranka, Rolica papirja and, last but not least, Daleč je za naju pomlad, which lyrically is one of the most beautiful songs Slovenian writers have ever come up with.
Throughout his career, Adi has often tackled current issues, both broad and narrow, in society, but his lyrics have also made room for pub scenes and the everyday party problems that student heads usually worry about for no good reason. It’s exactly this formula that has won him a huge following over the years. Everyone can recognize themselves in at least one of his songs. And identifying with him is never hard, because Adi is a guy who can poke fun at himself, who can point out his own mistakes and actually learn something from them.
Se počasi daleč pride is his first new studio record after a three-year break (since Brez dlake na jeziku in 2008), and Adi recorded it with his backing band Mestni Postopači. Who, in fact, are nothing more than a ‘civilized’ version of Leteči Potepuhi. Founding member Dejan Došlo disbanded Potepuhi and, together with Damir Jazbec, Marko Matjašič, Iztok Repovž and Sergej Jereb, created Postopači. They serve the album as an excellent musical backdrop for Adi’s once again topical and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, which of course remain the main and most important thread running through the record.
This time around Adi has left social issues somewhat in the background. Only the opening track Opozicija, which he says he wrote a while ago, deals with political ping-pong. Still, it more than earns its place on the record, because the word “opposition” is also a synonym for a relationship. Any relationship. And relationships are really the main theme of this album, which is no surprise, since we know Adi got divorced during this time and started living the single life again. How he dealt with that nasty experience, he tells in a very playful way in the song Če te ena noče, te pa druga hoče. He also talks about being single in the song Kako je bit sam (…if there’s one thing I know, it’s what it’s like to be alone…). Relationships are also the subject of the songs Prijateljstvo and Ljubezen, zvestoba. The latter is an interesting breath of fresh air, because the arrangement is in the style of a French chanson with accordion, while the lyrics paint a very vivid picture of how love and fidelity so often go to the dogs over the years of a shared life (… lust is the heartburn that beats reason, and that’s why sad things happen…).
The other themes Adi deals with are just as relevant for him. He has thirty years of a successful career behind him and has already boldly shaken hands with Abraham, i.e. turned fifty. He speaks about the troubles that come with the later years in the songs Dnevi so kratki, noči pa dolge, Ne gre, ne gre and Življenje se konča. Of course, not everything is one-note, and it’s never as sad as it looks at first glance. That’s why there’s also a lone flirtation with the past, or rather with his teenage years, which Adi allows himself in the song Bavbav. The song was recorded as a duet with Tanja Žagar and, interestingly enough, it’s even Adi’s very first duet ever.
The title track Se počasi daleč pride closes out the mini opus of Adi’s new verses. Which is no accident, because in it he tells us he’s happiest when he’s entertaining us, and he even gets paid for it (… when I’m driving, I think about how good I have it, I love cheering people up, and I even get paid for it…). At the same time, in his own way, he thanks us for taking his lyrics as our own (…until my sun goes down, I’ll keep looking for the road to people…).
Adi has always been a master of rhyme, and with this album he confirms his mastery once again. Saying in three short verses what anyone else would need thirty pages of a book for is definitely one of his greatest strengths. And that’s not all. He can allow himself simple rhyming that any average primary school kid could manage, but only he is able to add that brilliant line that sparkingly spices up the whole composition. Since the melody is usually very simple too, Adi gets into your ear quickly and stays in your head for a long time. This record may be a bit specific in that sense. Younger ears will probably miss it, but I’m convinced it will get a very warm reception from a more mature audience.
So we welcome the album and wish that Adi goes not just far, but even further. We hope that a line from his song Ne gre, ne gre never comes true, “…life is running out for your poet too…”, because we’ll always be hungry for his honest words and his playful humor, at his own expense and ours.
Lineup
Adi Smolar – vocals, acoustic guitar
Dejan Došlo – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Damir Jazbec – harmonica, backing vocals
Marko Matjašič – electric guitar
Sergej Jereb – bass guitar, backing vocals
Iztok Repovž – drums
Andreja Sonc – backing vocals
Borut Činč – Hammond organ, accordion
Special guest:
Tanja Žagar – vocals (Bavbav)
Production
Borut Činč & Adi Smolar
Track list
1. Opozicija 4:25
2. Dnevi so kratki, noči pa dolge 4:16
3. Če te ena noče, te pa druga hoče 4:08
4. Bavbav 4:36
5. Ne gre, ne gre 4:31
6. Življenje se konča 3:19
7. Kako je bit sam 4:16
8. Prijateljstvo 3:52
9. Ljubezen, zvestoba 4:12
10. Se počasi daleč pride 5:05
