Gazel's Book of Souls

An artist and her work

When an artist tells you that their album represents:

"The first chapter in the musical story of a teenage girl who travels through the subconscious, meeting the covert spirits that govern the different areas of the human psyche."

You could be forgiven for being wary. 

As it turns out, Gazel's debut album Gazel's Book of Souls, does live up to its composer's astonishing description.  

A mixture of electronic soundscape and traditional Turkish instrumentation, the result is a beguiling, haunting feast of imagery and sound. It's rare to say that an artist is a true original, but she really is doing something different here. There are rock guitars, ritualistic dance soundscapes, and atmosphere aplenty and Gazel really has succeeded in creating an entire sonic world that the listener can fall into and inhabit. 

I missed the opportunity to see her live on her recent tour and I can see that it might take a while for such an unusual, unique artist to get the recognition she deserves, but I'm hopeful that more and more people will discover Gazel, and her unique and beautiful debut album, and give it a listen.

In addition to creating a series of beautiful, layered, carefully crafted sonic soundscapes, the videos released to promote recent singles 'You're Not Funny', 'Rain Is Coming' and 'Walk On Land' have been similarly otherworldly and gorgeous. 

The video for 'Rain is coming' (above) is perhaps the most obviously tied to the expressed journey through the psyche, and it sees Gazel observing a younger version of herself as she undertakes a quest for meaning.

'Walk On Land' meanwhile, with its summary feel and steel drums, is a glorious melange of dancing and swirling flowers and fabric that I'm hoping will lure in some of my fellow Flow's who read this blog. 

This is an album that deserves to be discovered and treasured. It has the potential to grow into a classic and should be appreciated as such.