Gidon Carmel – The Story Of Goabi

After many exceptional singles like Wake Up, The Great Pretender, The Ocean, Sticks & Stones, Saint Helena, and Take Me Away, experienced Berlin-based drummer Gidon Carmel unleashed a debut full-length release called The Story Of Goabi. It’s a comprehensive collection of twelve numbers, enhanced by the guest appearances of Sophie Sutton, Ben Wuyts, Lucas Laufen, Coby Grant, Amistat, Cameron Hassard, Lotta St Joan, Alberta Cross, Lena Minder, Rapturous, Witch ‘n’ Monk, Reema, Cameron James Laing, etc. Each composition carries a slightly different ambiance that perfectly suits guest artists’ vocal and instrumental performances. Gidon Carmel paid attention to everything, and there is no doubt this material will immediately appeal to your listening apparatus.

Perhaps The Story Of Goabi almost solely relies upon the fundamentals of pop music, but you’ll unquestionably notice some other genres and subgenres. The artist incorporated some of the finest properties of indie pop, dream pop, post-rock, cinematic ambient, electronic, and experimental music. Some readers might think these elements wouldn’t work together. However, The Story Of Goabi is one pleasant, harmonious, cathartic journey through brilliant ideas and exceptional musicianship of a profoundly creative artist. The way guest artists blend with all the elements Gidon Carmel put together for this material is nearly mindblowing. That’s the first detail you’ll notice while listening to these carefully crafted, soothing sounds of the Story Of Goabi, but there are even more than meets the eye once you delve deep into the material.

As an experienced drummer, Gidon Carmel paid so much attention to rhythmic sequences, accentuations, breaks, enhancements, and other percussive acrobatics that make this material groovy, dynamic, energetic, and theatric in so many ways. The detailed electronic beats on particular compositions perfectly match the analog drumming that dominates the most throughout the entire album. You’ll also notice that vocal harmonies are carefully volumed up in the mix, but they don’t spoil other orchestrations included along the way. Quite the contrary, each lead, theme, melody, ambient sequence, arpeggiated, and regular chord progression is hearable and accentuated to the point you’ll even hear the strumming on the strings. The Story Of Goabi provides a memorable, mesmerizing, cathartic listening experience that will appeal to all the fans of classic, contemporary, and indie pop. The album is available on all streaming services.