Artist: Gibonni
Label: Dallas Records
Released: 2010
Length: 42:48
Rating: 4/5
Gibonni is blessing us with his new studio effort! Four years after “Unca Fibre” (2006), “Toleranca” is its name! Everybody’s been waiting on Gibonni. Impatiently. The music industry and the fans, of course. The former to cash in on lucrative deals, the latter to feed their souls with the energy Gibonni generates. Will he live up to the huge reputation of the top singer-songwriter of our southern neighbor? Will he keep up the high standard of quality releases he’s spoiled us with over the past ten years? The public is getting more and more demanding of the musician. So what did Gibo come up with?
The guy keeps deepening and developing his formula, which once again rests on a splendid blend of pop, rock, Dalmatian melos and world music. He does it with finesse again, softly, with great feeling and without a shred of pretension. He artfully conducts his multilayered vision of shaping and building the songs, and tames it without major upheavals with phenomenal, deeply felt singing, where verses with no power to resist come alive in an instant.
Was it hard? As far as conducting control goes, yes. It had to be firm for the ideas to land at the level of artistry that Gibonni’s musical expression demands. Given the arsenal of options, where Gibonni can pick from multiple producers, multiple studios, multiple musicians who can form the core of the backing band, and of course guest stars, the whole thing looks a lot simpler. But like I said. It takes a firm hand, a decisive swing of the conductor’s baton, which is obviously second nature to Gibonni, a job he mastered long ago.
And who left their guest fingerprints all over “Toleranca”? Soul and R&B singer May Azucena, rapper Masta Ace (Toleranca), The London Comunnity Gospel Choir (a choir that Elton John, Paul McCartney, Depeche Mode, George Michael and Madonna have also borrowed). Then there are the veterans, bassist Jani Hace (Siddharta) and guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski (Leb i sol), and singer Damir Urban (Urban & 4, ex-Laufer). A palette of producers: Nikša Bratoš, Dejan Orešković, Marijan Brkić and Ante Gelo. And last but not least, sound work at multiple studios in Novo mesto, Zagreb, Split, Adelaide, New York and Peter Gabriel’s famous Real World studio in Bath (United Kingdom).
The songs on Toleranca can be grouped into three categories. The first are the pop rock numbers with plenty of world-music flavor, where the Western European, Anglo-American mode of expression is clearly front and center, with a measured (occasional) pinch of Dalmatian cosmetics that never gets in the way and fits the songs’ expressiveness perfectly. Take the rock-heavy Žeđam with its incredibly strong chorus, or the fast, lively Opet si bogu drag, outfitted with a rich woodwind arrangement. Vrata do nas wins you over with its calm and the sensuality of Gibonni’s vocals in the refined harmony of layered arrangements, one of the album’s top picks when we talk about Anglo-American expression in pop rock. The same goes for the excellent ballad Zamoli me, where Gibonni most elegantly blends elements of world music in the vein of giants like Sting or Peter Gabriel. He does it his own way, as a man from a different corner of the old continent, and once again masterfully taps the power of choral singing that the album is loaded with. Vesla na vodi belongs in this category too. Besides the polished, clearly defined verse-chorus melodic pairing, what I especially like in this song is the synthesizer motif (the bridge between chorus and verse), which flirts with the retro impulses of rock’s early pioneers who were the first to use moogs, like Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep) in Sweet Loraine. We can’t skip Keith Emerson’s (ELP) wizard hands either, or, later, Mark Kelly (Marillion) in a much more distinctly artsy sonic manner. Alongside Žeđam, Vesla na vodi is the song with the most Anglo-American ear on the album. Čemu se nadaš srce moje? is another textbook example of Gibbonni’s deft middle-of-the-road walk (blending musical influences), where he has always been most convincing and successful as a performer.
The album’s second category is the songs where the Mediterranean melos is more strongly emphasized. That’s the acoustic Slavim ove dane što si tu, where Gibboni skillfully “balms” his “Dalmatianisms” with almost gospel-like choir melodies. The album’s second ballad, Vrata moje sestre, also falls into this group.
The new album also has a special story in its two instrumentals, which make up the third category. An instrumental Gibonni? You read that right. The first is an extension of Vesla na vodi, called Mala voda. Its main motif uses a shimmer of string picking on the strings (violin) and works on the melos of harmonies in a soothing Celtic vein, so closer to the colors of neo-classicism. And we definitely can’t skip the closing part of this album, where the song Toleranca comes back, this time called Tolerancia. The touch of jazzy Gershwin-style cosmetics is a surprise, pragmatically flipping the song’s lead motif and turning its atmosphere completely around. The excellent, refined pairing with the accordion is another pleasant surprise, reminding us once more of Gibonni’s roots.
“Toleranca” is once again a brighter, lighter and more upbeat album than its predecessor “Unca Fibre” (2006). That’s the first impression. The next impression the new album leaves is that Gibonni has moved his reach even closer to the standards of the foreign pop rock mainstream. He’s covered up a bit more of the character of the homegrown Dalmatian melos that runs through his whole career. So this is a new, significant, carefully measured step that opens the door to more interest in Gibonni’s music on foreign markets too, especially in the old European continent and the British Isles. On some tracks on the new album (Žeđam, Opet si bogu drag), old Gibo even cranks up a guitar backing that his earlier records never had.
The overall feeling of the album is that Gibboni has wrapped his Mediterranean roots even more thoroughly in the overall image of commercial “mainstream” pop rock. He certainly can’t deny those roots, but some of the new songs sound very close to what the acclaimed commercial acts of the developed Anglo-American pop and rock world do at the highest quality level. Except Gibboni gets there by integrating the musical background he grew up on. That’s why “Toleranca” doesn’t come across as pushy or annoying in its dose of “Dalmatianisms.” The album gives the feeling that Gibboni teases with them in just the right amount. And that sets him apart, distancing him from the limits of the local Croatian “mainstream” crowd and bringing him closer to the developed “West.” If we compare the musician with his countrymen, who force “Dalmatianisms” down our throats, Gibonni remains a truly elusive ace next to them. Gibboni has clearly defined his unique artistry, and with “Toleranca” he only keeps developing and deepening it. With “Toleranca” he “feeds”, keeps and expands his listener base, and with top quality he defies the watchful ears of music critics, who struggle to find any possible artistic slip-ups.
“Toleranca” is Gibonni’s long-awaited musical fix, a great new Gibonni studio effort, a new step forward. It’s also interesting that this is a “middle-of-the-road pop rock” (mainstream) album from our southern neighbor, a fresh confirmation of Gibonni’s sense of great artistic culture, totally unburdened by the generally frustrating gallows-humor of Croatian chauvinism, something Croatians can’t shake off even in music. Let’s hope Gibonni’s approach will become a bright example to all the musicians over there. In the spirit of great tolerance and pragmatism, as the new album’s title commands!
Lineup
Gibonni – vocals, backing vocals, guitar
Nikša Bratoš – guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, keyboards, accordion
Zlatan Došlić – accordion
Marko Ramljak – violin
Maasej Kovačević – piano
Matija Dedić – piano
Marijan Brkič – guitar
Luka Toman – guitar
Ante Gelo – keyboards, guitar
Jani Hace – bass guitar
Alan Svetopetrić – bass guitar
Marko Reljanović – bass guitar
Robi Tyson – bass guitar
Marko Lazarević – drums
Janko Novoselić – drums
Boris Leiner – drums, percussion
Dalibor Marinković – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Maya Azucena – vocals
Masta Ace – vocals
Ricardo Loque – vocals
Damir Urban – vocals
Vlatko Stefanovski – guitar
Davor Rodik – steel pedal guitar
The London Community Gospel Choir – choir vocals
Davor Križić – woodwinds
Marin Frketin – woodwinds
Arsen Ereš – woodwinds
Antonio Geček – woodwinds
Production
Nikša Bratoš, Dejan Orešković, Marijan Brkić & Miro Vidović
Tracklist
1. Toleranca
2. Žedjam
3. Zamoli Me (Možda Ti Je Ispod Časti)
4. Vesla Na Vodi
5. Mala Vesla
6. Slavim Ove Dane Sto Si Tu
7. Vrata Do Nas
8. Opet Si Bogu Drag
9. Vrata Moje Sestre
10. Čemu Se Nadas, Srce Moje
11. Toleranca (Drugo Čitanje)
