Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Zoran, Jernej
Label: Menart Records
Release: 2012
Length: 52:26
Rating: 4.5/5
Jernej Zoran is a Slovenian musician and creator who has been active on the Slovenian music scene for over two decades. His career wound through several bands in the nineties. At the start of the new millennium he put out his solo studio debut »Avgustovski kosci« (2001), then joined Društvo mrtvih pesnikov, where he stuck it out until 2010. With the arrival of Peter Dekleva and the album of rearranged originals “Krog” (2010 – RockLine review HERE), D.M.P. signaled they were on the verge of major stylistic changes, while Jernej Zoran, on the other hand, needed even more creative freedom, which only a fresh creative challenge could give him. And that’s what he found in the next chapter of his solo path.
Jernej Zoran is a guitarist who grew up on the sounds of classic rock acts. You can feel the peak of his influences in his playing, from guitar giants like Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and especially David Gilmour, which makes this album a very special one for Slovenian climes. A proper classic rock album, cut the Slovenian way! It doesn’t get more under-the-skin than this, and that’s exactly where all its fascination lies.
In the eleven years since his first studio record, a ton of ideas piled up, ripened and grew into the 12 tracks of the new album »Stratosfera«. When you eye the cover and read the title, your first fleeting impression is that you’re holding a new release from some dinosaur krautrockers a la Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül,… But »Stratosfera« is a classic-rock-cut album where the compactness of traditionally built songs (and the vocal arrangements naturally reinforce that compactness) shakes hands with the sheer spotlight on Jernej’s guitar confessions, injected with great feeling through the navigation of the many roles the playing takes on in arrangements worked out down to the last detail. The solo in »Osamljen potnik skozi čas« feels like a real little erogenous confessional adventure, which proves that Jernej has a superb feel for placing guitar ornaments at just the right spots in a song, the ones that amplify individual moods and shape new moods within the tracks. So we can say that »Stratosfera«, across its whole running time, has an incredibly dynamic, varied flow, full of contrast.
The album is a rainbow picture book of everything that embodies this artist’s exploratory musical spirit. If you’re looking for little spiced-up sensual pleasures in music, the instrumental title track that opens the record, and soon after it Krasni novi svet? and Monsanto Baby Blues, belong on your cherry-picked list of favorites from this album.
It’s not hard to tell from this release how experienced and clearly profiled a musician Jernej Zoran is. Every single track has a finely worked-out guitar arrangement. From the placement of chords hugging the lead vocal to the delicately refined choice of the sonic character itself, which rests on a combination of Jernej’s touch and effects – that combination keeps a spotless organic feel the whole way through, without warping the sound with distortion and/or similar effects. sTransitions into distortion are rare, used only to underline specific moods, and even there the riffs are balanced in the production so that they never take over those parts of the album. The album flirts with them more intensely in its most dramatic stretch. In the closing »Osamljen potnik skozi čas« and the heaviest moment of the album, »Labodji spev«, which also wraps up the record.
The album carries quite a few full-blooded vocal songs that meet the demands of heavy radio rotation, yet don’t hide their true rock connotations, with great melodic payoff, full compactness and catchy sound, and a gradual build of moods peaking in the choruses. The song Poljubi Me is a real confessional bit of magic, a great conversation between a guitar accompaniment that sounds almost »Stones-esque« and the sweetly bittersweet vocals of Lara Poreber. Her voice is used brilliantly throughout, and it works especially well in the dark, dramatically conceived rock gem »Osamljen potnik skozi čas«. The album’s variety comes from the choice of several different lead vocalists, who masterfully bring the messages of the verses to life. For example, if we go looking for energetic parallels in the rock world, Tisočletja is a successful blend of Clapton’s unforgettable lullaby Tears In Heaven (the wailing guitar lines) and Floyd’s Comfortably Numb (especially the transitional chord progression that leads the song into the next verse). This song is steeped in wonderfully ear-friendly, »Gilmouresque« guitar ornaments with a delicious »slide« guitar moment. Then there’s »Vegas« (after Poljubi Me and Tisočeltja) as the third advance single from the album, with a chorus just as catchy and contagious as the previous two singles. The socially critical note in this track is deepened by the recognizable voice of Damir Lisica (Anavrin, Adam), who breathes a gently yearning, rebellious alternative-rock edge into the song. The song »Lažejo« is also a special kind of adventure. The rhythmic foundation in the chorus, along with the manly, vibrant vocals of Gabro Brin, can’t help but evoke Bowie’s evergreen Heroes (instantly count in the soundscape of »Frippertronics« from that Bowie hit). In this song Jernej again achieves a full sound picture with multiple guitar lines, and in the verse the vocals are hugged by a guitar accompaniment enriched with a »stereo chorus« effect.
In short, it’s not just this song but the entire album that teases the listener throughout with the cunning placement of many guitar lines, coexisting in a perfect musical arrangement with a big confessional payoff. Jernej pulls this off totally unpretentiously, yet with full control over the creation of the musical substance. Fully concise, with short relaxed strokes and full-blooded, clear-eyed confession. This unpretentiousness, this minimalist approach, works at full strength in, for example, »Vse ti dam«, where a simple guitar accompaniment is gripped by a firmly pulsing, highly flirtatious rhythmic texture. This song has a touch of pop cosmetics; in fact it’s the moment on the album that most shamelessly flirts with pop. It might well be a welcome pick for the album’s fourth promo single.
»Stratosfera« is an album that doesn’t know the mercy of running time. 12 songs with clearly defined character, polished lead vocal melodies, excellent arrangement tailoring, and packed with many emotional impressions! It’s a release where you’ll keep discovering all its little details for a long time, despite the fact that it’s totally undemanding to consume and highly catchy melodically. »Stratosfera« is a really beautiful album, the kind Slovenia is short on. With its retro sound it doesn’t start a musical revolution, but it slots the missing pieces back into the mosaic of Slovenian rock history, in spots that forge a genuine creative bond with world-famous rock giants. Rock nostalgics! Don’t hesitate, check out this release of powerful, confessional substance right away.
Lineup
Jernej Zoran – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion
Lara Poreber – vocals (2,4,9.11)
Damir Lisica – vocals (5,12)
Gaber Brin – vocals (7)
Janez Lamovšek – vocals (8)
Sašo Đukič – vocals (10)
Miha Recelj – drums
Dušan Obradinovič – drums
Miro Tomšič
Production
Jernej Zoran
Track list
1. Stratosfera
2. Poljubi me
3. Krasni novi svet?
4. Tisočletja
5. Vegas
6. Monsanto Baby Blues
7. Lažejo
8. Moja dežela
9. Kaplja
10. Vse ti dam
11. Osamljen potnik skozi čas
12. Labodji spev
