ALBUM REVIEW: Gone Gone Beyond Pleads For Change in Folk Americana Release ‘2030’
ALBUM REVIEW: Gone Gone Beyond Pleads For Change in Folk Americana Release ‘2030’
Gone Gone Beyond hopes for change by the year 2030
Words By: Brianna Vacca
Cosmopolitan four-part musical group Gone Gone Beyond has freed their pioneered folk-Americana offering in the shape of a full-length sophomore record. Following their debut, Things Are Changing, 2030 envelopes a handful of tasteful love songs outlined by a vast depiction between humanity and the bane of existence. Composed of multi-instrumentalists and wickedly-skilled singer + songwriters from distinctive regions David Block (Los Angeles + NYC), Danny Musengo (Iowa + NYC), Kat Factor (Santa Cruz), and Mel Semé (Cuba + Barcelona), 2030 drips with hope and screams the priority and urgency for change for the greater good. The twelve-song compilation meets its own existential genre of sound blending influences like jazz, soul, electronica, world music, all stitched together with folk-Americana songwriting.
2030 commences with heartbreakingly serene “Canyons.” The musical hybrid’s vocal dexterity throbs with the delicacy of the picked fretwork like mad lovers. Musengo described the track as “a voodoo lullaby with all the whimsy of Alan Watts and all the heart of Neil Young;” a grand resemblance to say the very least. Recorded at Hotel El Gonzo in Southern Baja, Mexico, Moontricks’ Sean Rodman joined the band to dedicate an ode to past generations who traveling West in search of revitalization. “Canyons’” ending full of fade and animalistic noises opens the door up for the album’s second slot filler “Little Moon.”
Akin to the album’s inauguration song, “Little Moon” offers a shy dose of lust intertwined with the true value of love. The song begins with an eerie display of acoustic strings while boasting the comfort of a significant other’s full glow as they compare their lover to beauteous things. They sing, “Let’s get blown away / Every day with you is like a holiday / Somewhere really fancy like the coast of Spain / When the bougainvilleas are in bloom.”
“Coast” is next up and encompasses a mid-tempo assemblage of brushes and a touch of world influences. At about 20 beats per minute depicted in their acoustic video, this archipelago-roused composition includes a touch of banjo and uplifting harmonious vocals allowing minds to reach a point of ease. Combine with “Little Moon,” both of these tracks have accumulated over 2 million streams collectively since their release.
Gone Gone Beyond possesses an immense amount of synergy throughout 2030, and is shown in the standalone track “Lost In America.” Khruangbin influenced, there’s a silk cover of intricate riffs and vocals that switch from a soft falsetto to a full belt as the journey to the better continues into “She Just Can’t Help But Shine.” This one is queued up and ready to go for the alter. Good, good love is embraced over an uplifting assembly of strings and depicts a contrasting vibe from the rest of the collection. Penned as “mesmerizing future folk,” that description remains true as “She Just Can’t Help But Shine” plays on, and oh, does the band plays on.
Another staple on the collection “Another Earth” has seen the light of day before the rest of the project’s June 25th birth. “Another Earth” displays Factor’s vocal graceful and airy vocal capabilities. Its atmospheric landscape is simply overwhelming as Factor’s vocals are tag-teamed with the rest of the musical group’s vocal foundation.
“‘Another Earth’ represents so many things to me,” shares group member David Block. “It’s a song about choice. What kind of world do we want to live in? How do we want to treat each other? A song can mean so many different things for each individual. The most important thing for me with ‘Another Earth’ is how it makes me FEEL. It’s brought me to tears several times. Every time I hear it, my heart swells a bit. In that way, I don’t know if it really matters what it’s ‘about.’ It gives me the feels, and I like that a lot.”
The futuristic folk-Americana compilation concludes with “Marigold;” an unblemished way to toast away the evening. Each and every song is deftly wrapped up and topped off with a bow with the album’s closer.
Gone Gone Beyond’s outlook on life appears all over the project with their hope for a change for the not-so-distant future. 2030 is a reference of a year to come; a year that many have deemed as the, “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Gone Gone Beyond’s mission is clear and presented in the most elegant way.
