Mexico-based musician Robert Vendetta comes to your radios with “All By His Handsome Self” as his latest project! As Robert himself would say it, his music is a ‘melting pot’ of influences; with elements ranging from all the way in Mexico, to the far fjords of Norway. With influences rooted in dance fused into something he calls ‘Retropop’, there is a fair amount to unpack in this album.
The song list starts off with the title track, “All By His Handsome Self”. A dancey, singable number, this song sets the tone for the rest of the album. An easy-to-follow track that is gracefully simple to listen to and sing; the main purpose of entertaining the listener is achieved very well here.
Just when one would begin thinking of the rest of the album being this way; they are jolted out of their presumption by the second track; the Intermezzo (the first of two over the course of this album). Delicate, intimate playing immediately transports you from a Retropop dance bar into a music hall with a concert grand. The playing is layered, the writing structures the melody very well; to deliver a soft, yet powerful message revolving around one motif; circling back to it after spiralling so far out.
We return to the happy, dancey vibe of this album from the third track onwards; the first of which is titled ‘Colombian Spice’. The bassline here is creative and lends a ton of groove and flair to the song to take it to the next level. The vocal delivery is deliberately thrashy; with an almost deliberately reckless quality to it that makes this song (and the whole album) an amazing listen.
This continues till the second Intermezzo (Date Me being another worthy mention). The Intermezzo is, once again, a delicately crafted work of art that really brings out the best of Robert’s skill; both in terms of performance as well as songwriting and composition. Interesting harmonies and tense atmospheres galore in this piece, with the overall message still managing to remain coherent and clear.
The final half of the album slows down from an uptempo festival-like atmosphere into a much more introspective, soulful affair, with songs like “Need To Know” making an appearance to further prove the point. There are a lot of layers in this album, and it feels deliberately constructed that way to make the listener feel what I presently do.
The instrumentation overall is simple and does the job very well. To communicate the emotion well is the purpose, and I think that has been achieved beautifully here. The mixes are forward, bright and have a sense of energy in them that bring forth the mood of the songs even more succinctly.
Overall, I loved listening to Robert Vendetta’s latest project, “All By His Handsome Self”! It makes an amazing addition to your playlist of indie artists, and you can check it out here-
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Discovered via http://musosoup.com
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