Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Never mind the Year Of The Cat, or indeed that of the pig or the dog either, for in The Year Of The Rat great changes are audibly recognised, and it comes with a sweeping fascination of what is to surely descend upon us.
Poetry and music are intrinsically linked, not only through the obvious reasoning of their artistic Venn Diagram in which stars such as Leonard Cohen and Jaques Brel are admired, revered to a point where they are cast as human gods of their craft, but through the ability to communicate thought in such a way that they raise the mind of the listener to a place where consciousness is a doorway to the stars.
There will always be those who look down upon poetry as the weak link in the chain of art, the snide remarks haunting the writer from childhood as they tentatively explore the medium with a mixture of confidence and freedom that they hope will explain the feelings wrapped up in their minds and hearts; for in those first steps comes human expression, the rat like cunning that dissolves fears and terror, and makes faith of the word absolute.
Gabriel Moreno’s Year Of The Rat, explored and written in one of the most disastrous times of the last hundred years and one that will profoundly alter the course of human interaction in the short and medium term, is one of poetic brilliance, of exemplifying through poetry and words the meaning of truth seeking expression, and one that makes the story, the sad, the joyful, the mean and the brave tales stand out and be lauded.
Gabriel, along with musicians Ned Cartwright, Chris Gadd, Pearl Fish, Adam Beattie, Pablo Yupton, Pablo Campos, Fiona Bevan, Maya McCourt, DG Solaris, Sergio Contreras Acosta, Chris CJ Jones, takes layered songs and gives them an outlook of endeavour, and as tracks such as Painter, Painter, Sellotape My Heart, the sublime Dreams Of The Poor, The City Wakes Up, the exquisite Dance In An Empty Field, and the album title track of The Year Of The Rat, all is sincere, as poetry in any form it decides to inhabit should be.
It is the tonal breath of Scott Walker, the application of Leonard Cohen, and the beauty, even undercover mischief in the form of sexuality that was given credence by the subtly of the likes of Patti Smith, that makes Gabriel Moreno stand out in a field of observational greats. The Year Of The Rat is power, poise, it is demonstration, and it is cause. An album of infinite delivery, Gabriel Moreno is a persuasion of the age.
Gabriel Moreno releases The Year Of The Rat on February 4th via Poetry Mondays Records.
Ian D. Hall