You know I'm a Gabrielles Wish fan. I started a fan site three years ago and they asked me to make it official. But this is all a coincidence. Or maybe not. Of course, if they hadn't blown me away so much when they supported New Order in 1998, I wouldn't have discovered them, and I wouldn't have become such a fan. Everything that happened since then made me an even bigger fan. I bought the first two EPs, and they were even better than the expected. When I started the site, they sent me some records I hadn't found yet, and those were still even better than the expected. But what I mean here is if I hadn't ever heard about them and I heard Reformer by accident, I'd be still totally blown away, even more than the first time I saw them.
Because Reformer is even a major further improvement to anything they've released before, the absolute beauty of this record, from the first minute to the last, is truly amazing. It's virtually flawless, and there are so many different sound and emotions here. I'm getting used to the fact the best bands are remaining a secret kept in underground cults, but once again I can only wonder why people are wasting time and money with bands which won't ever give them anything remotely comparable to the majesty of Reformer.
You won't believe me. Well, believe your ears at least. You still know when music is good, don't you? On the Gabrielles Wish official site there's a section named Sounds, packed with downloadable MP3 files, mostly full length singles, rarities and live material. There's also a special page for the Reformer Sampler. This link opens into another window, so you can download and hear the files and read my post at the same time and get an idea of what I mean.
I had been lucky enough to hear recordings of recent Gabrielles Wish gigs and I had been already impressed by the new songs. The best of the new songs, for me, was definitely Claw (check file 07 for the full live version and 01 for the album sample), and I'm happy they've chosen it as the first track on Reformer. In the live version Rob's voice was filtered like through a megaphone and the chorus choir resembled a bunch of drunk hooligans and I found it really cool. The studio version is much cleaner and is the best example of the excellent production of the whole album, the choir has been changed to an equally fabulous ethereal choir backeded by female vocals. The sound is fantastic, great bass and guitar... we just gotta hope Paul Ryan has still time for the band though he has announced he has been forced to reduce it because of work commitments, but his guitar plays an essential role in Reformer... and you also gotta notice, in the whole album as well, that the entry of Karen Leatham (formerly in Wonky Alice, The Fall and The Sons Of God, the band of The Chameleons' Mark Burgess) in the band has brought a further improvement. She plays bass and guitar too, but it's her keyboard which really stands out on the whole album.
After such an epic start Gazelle (sample 05) brings us back to the angular post punk we can expect from Gabrielles Wish at their best, enhanced by a liquid bass which echoes New Order's Peter Hook and a minimal trumpet (unusual for this band) which recalls the best A Certain Ratio.
Unfortunately there's no sample for the sound hurricane which is 2 Much (so you'll discover new songs when hearing the album you can buy at Piccadilly and Vox Pop), where the guitar goes from the merciless noise of the verse to the delicate harmonics of the chorus..
Flu Jab has a strong rhythm in the verse and spooky noises in the melancholic chorus, with the bonus of a wonderful piano in the interlude, it's like Brian Eno producing Happy Mondays jamming with Red Hot Chili Peppers, but the result is better than what you could ever expect.
Say (sample 02) is a perfect example of the incredible variety of sounds and emotions in this album, it's an acoustic song enriched by atmospheric sounds, touching female backing vocals and a wonderful violin.
This delicate moment is brutally followed by New York Girl (sample 06), a heavy rock monster and a growing grand finale pumped by a trumpet bringing the tension to the max.
A similar technique in Elizabeth, where a long instrumental part growing slowly to a powerful ending brings us to Rob's emotional voice.
The 12 minutes of Optical One have the essence of the whole album in one song, it's a powerful rock song with an ambient interlude which reaches moments of astonishing grace like this passage (sample 03) from the heavenly raindrops of the keyboard to a delicate guitar recalling the best Vini Reilly from The Durutti Column.
The album is closed by the instrumental Position Oldham St Manchester (sample 04), the fabulous late night trip of a guitar in the most lively street of Manchester, between atmospheres recalling Robert Fripp, clear sounds and acid noises. Once again Gabrielles Wish make the perfect soundtrack for their own city, just like they did with the electronic Hood in the Golded Up EP... when you hear music like this you just can see again Manchester, if you've ever been there... if you haven't, you can hear what it looks like, or see what it sounds like... you know what I mean.
The vast audiences have missed 10 years of great music by Gabrielles Wish. They'll probably miss this masterpiece too. But what about you, are you going to miss the album of the decade? Maybe it won't be your album of the decade, but are you sure you're going to hear anything better this year at least?
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