GABRIEL MORENO – Nights In The Belly Of Bohemia (Poetry Mondays)

Nights In The Belly Of BohemiaGibraltar born but London based singer-songwriter and poet Gabriel Moreno releases his sixth album Nights In The Belly Of Bohemia in early April.  It’s also accompanied by his twelfth book of poetry of the same name which is out now.  Gabriel sees Bohemia as a state of mind, rather than a place, where romance, music, poetry and kindness are more important than profit and commercial success.  It’s a concept that transcends boundaries, national or political, and the album reflects this by being recorded in England, Gibraltar and Spain.

Gabriel sings in Spanish accented English and had has a lyrical vocal style that inevitably draws comparisons with Leonard Cohen or Nick Cave, but he is very much his own writer and performer.  However, like those two his lyrics need to be listened to for best effect.  Also, unlike them, when you see him live there’s a fluidity of movement that has a Latin feel to it and this reflects in his music as well.

I don’t review every song on an album, there are ten on this one, but it’s been particularly hard to make the selection this time as they’re all so good.  One that caught my ear on the very first listen was ‘Castles’, which takes the form of a letter from a father to a son asking for forgiveness as there’s no gold watch, house in Hampstead Heath or sports car on the drive.  Instead there are pens, typewriters and turntables that fuel the imagination.  Co-written with Ty Watling, who provides backing vocals, it’s a very moving piece about what’s important in the writer’s life.

Title track ‘Bohemia’ has a different feel, much more up tempo and light sounding with a samba rhythm but needs a careful listening because the lyrics are quite dark.  The artist struggles to live his life on the edge with satisfaction but no real security.  This is a good song and made special but the violin of Richard Moore who give it a tremendous lift.

‘Lovers, Dreamers’ also explores the problems the Bohemian faces in the modern world.  “Did you trade you Bedouin heart for a hit in the charts?” and “Did you extinguish the flames when the little ones came?”.  The presentation of this song is excellent, just a guitar and voice full of passion.

I could have selected any song from the album to talk about because there’s so much that’s good about it.  From well presented solo to tracks with more layers and musicians but every song retains that heart and spirit of the troubadour who wants to live a life that gives them creative rather than material satisfaction.  I suppose that’s what marks out the true artist and Gabriel Moreno is certainly that.  This is a very impressive album from a true artist.

Nights In The Belly Of Bohemia releases in early April, there’s still a crowdfunder open, and is accompanied by a nationwide tour starting April 2nd at The Jamboree in London’s King’s Cross.

Tony Birch

 Artist’s website: https://www.gabrielmoreno.co.uk/

‘Castles’ – official video:

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