Gabriel Bernini and the beautiful cinematic patina of "Up On a Hill"

 

"stop dragging me down..." 


I am not sure if it is the multi-barbed guitar hook that screams late 70's garden rock or Gabriel Bernini's vocal aesthetic that has blends emo meets folk indie meets indie rock but "Up On a Hill", the title track from Gabriel's latest album feels wonderfully nostalgic, organic and cool. As I picked out some random slices of this album pie, songs like the amazing opener, "Don't Leave it Up to Us", with it's dog eared Polaroid sound and Lennon meets Harry Nilsson melancholia or the brevity of "Don't Break" that also contains that downturned piano DNA, or the retro cathode ray vision of "Falling Again" and "Love to be Loved" that feel like static ridden TV transmissions from 1967 UK transmissions and you get what might fuel Gabriel Bernini's dreams at night that melt and pour into his songs. 

Back to "Up On a Hill" (the song), I can't help but think of iconic artists like Faces, like Steelers Wheel and current artists like Kevin Morby and Cass McCombs or an amalgam of all of them with a hint of Sparklehorse for good measure. I am really loving the pull from past decades on this "Up On a Hill" (the album) and as I peruse all the songs there seems to be a faithful, friendly embrace of past sounds when things had an analog non-quantized heart and whether Gabriel used any modern wizardry, or not, this album has a beautifully textured feeling colored with a patina of past days. 

-Robb Donker Curtius     

LINKS 

https://open.spotify.com/track/1APRqADDeCdcSI3Hh14TGZ

https://gabebernini.bandcamp.com/album/up-on-a-hill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol-RpFRUbls

https://linktr.ee/gabrielbernini


Gabriel Bernini. singer songwriter, indie rock, folk rock, alt pop, folk indie, 70's pop, 60's garden rock, organic tones, rich melodies, new album "Up On a Hill",