Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The souls we meet upon the way are those that inform, guide, and possibly even love us; however there are those that are not destined to be seen in the light, only to be shrouded in darkness, it is up to our own individual senses to decipher the mystery of the various chapters, the words of the living, that make up the Book Of Souls.
The art of the running together a theme so powerful that the concept takes on the vision beyond our sight is arguably not a new one but as London-based songwriter Gazel explores in her debut album, Gazel’s Book Of Souls, a single story is not always enough to satisfy the pages of output and memory. Instead, context is enhanced by further intrigue, of belief in the heart of the explorer and the relish of painting a picture in which the hero has no idea of what they unearthing.
It is to the pleasure of exhuming something of ourselves that we have deeply hidden away from prying eyes and our own internal sense of worth, that Gazel’s Book Of Souls stands out and finds the listener being drawn in inch by inch, musical chapter by unrelenting esoteric notes.
To single out a song in such an album would be futile, without all the chapters the book makes no sense, without one particular song the album would fall into its well of self-analysis taken too far, and yet as tracks such as The Forest, Walk On Land, Cloudpatterns, Rain Is Coming, You’re Not Funny and the finale of The Night Concierge express, a chapter can elevate the imagination in the reader to the point where they battle through whatever comes next because they have already been hooked, they are willing for the story to continue ever onwards.
The debut album is one that is intended to capture the artist at their best, perhaps an element of pride being thrown in, and then, as with so many artists, the story suddenly stops, no sequel, no further episodes to look forward to; this is not the case for Gazel, the striking ingenuity of her performance suggests, demands that this is truly only the start, a vision that will keep revealing, and in the Book of Souls a truth is revealed, that of endurance.
A fiendishly good album, Gazel’s Book Of Souls is the start of a heartbeat destined to inspire.
Ian D. Hall