{"id":6935,"date":"2019-08-01T05:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T05:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=6935"},"modified":"2019-07-28T21:39:50","modified_gmt":"2019-07-28T21:39:50","slug":"gyasi-androgyne-self-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=6935","title":{"rendered":"Gyasi \u2018Androgyne\u2019 (Self-Released)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This album release snuck up on me, and I put it on my radar as soon as I saw when it was dropping. While eager to hear it, I did not have this one as something I had to hear right away as I enjoyed the first EP but wasn\u2019t blown away by it. Then, I gave this album a listen\u2026 and another\u2026 and another\u2026 and well you see where this is going. This album is a gamechanger for future expectation (when we get there), but let\u2019s invest a lot of time into the present as this album gives us 10 songs in less than 30 minutes with not one second wasted. With influences ranging from glitter glam, 70\u2019s blues hard rock, and rock n roll. Gyasi, currently based in Nashville, has followed up his first EP with a classic, timeless feeling album that will likely be on many end of the year best album lists as the number of people who hear it.<\/p>\n

The lightning guitar riff by Gyasi that launches \u2018Colorful\u2019 tears a hole in the soul and immediately gets the body moving. \u2018I\u2019m not normal; I was born colorful\u2019 is not just a lyric; it is a statement of intent from an artist who has invested blood, sweat, and tears into finding out who he is. The guitar solo allows a reprieve before an epic race to the finish of the song and one final chorus. We change gears immediately with the acoustic power pop jangle of \u2018Androgyne\u2019 affirming that you can be anything you want to be. In a world of bullies, this can serve as an anthem for those that don\u2019t fall into the society ordained categories and give them a voice. The bluesy \u2018Young Love\u2019 takes some Led Zeppelin influences with Gyasi using a higher vocal here to create an awesome hook in the chorus.<\/p>\n

One of the early singles follows with \u2018Tongue Tied\u2019 shaking and grooving down the back alley with another addictive chorus. The added harmonica showcasing another element we have not heard. This one recalls some Rolling Stones vibes. The bluesy \u2018Blackstrap\u2019 brings some horns into the mix and creates an even stranger musical refrain. This song has proven to be an incredibly fast grower as I was not initially blown away by it and now think it is one of many favorites from the album. The chorus comes from early glitter glam and attaches itself to your brain.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wilde Childe\u2019 starts us down the back half of the album with a straight forward beat giving way to an almost robotic refrain in the chorus. This song might actually be the one that grabs me the least, but I am still singing it and not wanting to skip it when I play the album so maybe I call it the runt of a very strong litter. Some acoustic and slide guitar introduce \u2018Bring Your Love\u2019 which again recalls a bit of Led Zeppelin especially with that vocal hook in the chorus making me think of something like \u2018Ramble On.\u2019<\/p>\n

The final trio begins with the upbeat \u2018Nightcrawl\u2019 which shimmies and shakes on an addictive beat that with the piano riding on top of it feels part Bowie and part musical number. The guitar cuts through at all the perfect times, and the hook is cut deep into my brain at this point. When I think about my favorite songs of the year, this one will be on the list. It segues into the glam glitter rocker \u2018Kiss Kiss\u2019 which features some more awesome piano work as well as some saxophone. The chorus is perfect and would make a perfect partner with something like \u2018Almost Faded\u2019 by the Sweet Things. Similar to \u2018Nightcrawl,\u2019 this one will likely garner a lot of attention from me for my favorite song of the year. Closing number \u2018Little Tramp\u2019 is an acoustic strummed rocker that is part T.Rex and could have fit seamlessly into the soundtrack for \u2018Almost Famous.\u2019 The gentle acoustic outro allows for a breath and provides one of two options. You either go right back into the beginning or allow it to transition to Gyasi\u2019s first EP. Either way, you are a winner.<\/p>\n

While Gyasi handles most of the instruments here, I do want to recognize the following who also play on the album:<\/p>\n

Ammed Solomon and Gaelen Mitchell- drums<\/p>\n

Dylan Whitlow- bass on \u2018Young Love\u2019<\/p>\n

Don Steck-harmonica on \u2018Tongue Tied\u2019<\/p>\n

Stefan Forbus- sax on \u2018Kiss Kiss\u2019<\/p>\n

This album exceeded all my expectations and has left trails of glitter all across my favorite albums of the year. I would love to see a Gyasi\/ Sweet Things tour happen where everyone can forget what year it might be and just celebrate for an evening. I cannot recommend this one enough if you want some enjoyable rock n roll that has a reverence for the past as well as a passion for the here and now to create 10 timeless songs. \u00a02019 became even more awesome when we got this treasure of an album.<\/p>\n

\u2018Androgyne\u2019 is available Here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

www.gyasimusic.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author: Gerald Stansbury<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This album release snuck up on me, and I put it on my radar as soon as I saw when it was dropping. While eager to hear it, I did not have this one as something I had to hear right away as I enjoyed the first EP but wasn\u2019t blown away by it. Then, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[2774,2773,2772,1818,223],"class_list":["post-6935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-androgyne","tag-gyasi","tag-gyasium","tag-new-album","tag-power-pop","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6937,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935\/revisions\/6937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}