Mr Gil: I Want You to Get Back Home

I've always had a soft spot for sorrowful singer/songwriters; despite my obsession with and preference for progressive rock (complex music, extremely long songs, etc), nothing appeals to me like the combination of somber melodies, fragile vocals, powerful harmonies, and slightly orchestrated accompaniment. On its fourth LP, I Want You to Get Back Home, Mr Gil provides this sound in spades. It's a prophetic, reserved, affective, delicate, and glorious record that should appeal to just about any music fan that can empathize with loss and longing.

Led by guitarist Mirek Gil (formerly of Collage and Believe), the project began in 1998. After the group's debut, Alone, was released to significant success, the project saw little activity for a decade. Fortunately, it was revitalized in 2009 and two more albums, Skellig and Light and Sound, followed in 2010. Currently, Gil is joined by Karol Wróblewski (vocals), Konrad Wantrych (piano, keyboards), and Paulina Druch (cello). As for I Want You to Get Back Home, the band says, "…You cannot control what comes out of the human soul…it is the need for honesty, friendship, and passion that grew into the idea of [this album]. " Additionally, Gil says, "It's like coming back home, like a return to peace and warmth…it is in each other that we have found that home." Regardless of how fate, friendship, or anything else lead to the creation of I Want You to Get Back Home, the end result is absolutely wonderful.

I Want You to Get Back Home flows with the same melancholic beauty throughout (as well as the same approach, for the most part), so it's best to think of it as a whole statement. From the devastating strings and harmonies of the opener, "Time," to the restrained piano of "In Your Heart," from the desperate melody of "Find Me" to the soothing lushness of "Change Your Name," and from the regretful closure of "Goodnight" to the final impassioned moments of "Come Home," this album bursts with accessible heartache and splendor. Also, while seldom deviation from established forms makes most albums feel repetitive and uninventive, here the style is used to consistently reaffirm and enhance the emotion and magic with which Mr Gil so effortlessly creates. There's a sense of thematic continuity that's quite extraordinary.

Rarely does an album reach my soul the way this album does. The quintet composes with a shared mind, and they perform with utter excellence. Their harmonies are magnificent, their instrumentation (which includes various strings) is grand, and their melodies are regal and poignant. I Want You to Get Back Home is certainly not an uplifting album in terms of sentiment and structure, but it does inspire its listeners to feel hopeful simply due to its existence; in other words, it's life affirming to know that something this special can be made.

Track Listing
1. Times
2. Our Shoes
3. In Your Heart
4. Find Me
5. Change Your Name
6. Fix My Arms
7. Start Again
8. Goodnight
9. Come Home

Added: August 20th 2012
Reviewer: Jordan Blum
Score:
Related Link: Band MySpace Page
Hits: 2675
Language: english

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