Review: Guts – Eternal

Guts, Eternal on heavenly sweetness records, review on cone magazine

What does the month of April mean for you? It’s often seen as a month for new beginnings and starting fresh. So with the new Guts album, ‘Eternal’, released released this week, get ready for some serious musical awakening and a spicy kick in your audiosphere.

Follow the way Gut’s seems to have mastered…travelling without moving…With an eclectic mix of different genres merged together from space jazz to soul busting hip hop, Guts is about to transform your spring like no other. Get ready to get funkalicious.

Throughout the album Eternal you can hear Guts musical exploration, from electro-funk to afro disco – as well as his devotion to hip-hop. Widely known for his hit single ‘Brand New Revolution’, featured on the Grand Theft Auto soundtrack, Guts is about the coolest thing to come out of this musical revolution of sampling, new technologies, and accessibility to music on the inter-web through sites such as Soundcloud and Bandcamp. Travelling with his unique sounds from Paris to Ibiza to London, he has the ability to become a worldwide sensation – it is certainly catchy enough!

With the new album featuring musical talents such as Leron Thomas, Florian Pellissier, Tanya Morgan, Lorine Chia, Mr Gib, Greg F, Kenny Ruby and Tibo Brandalise – there is never a dull moment. The infectious voice of Lorine Chia is one worth noting, as she features on several tracks bringing you the deep melody of her voice that send shivers up your spine. It’s the juxtaposition of these different musicians and artists that takes you on a journey through something quite native and exotic.

Although the album is more heavily hip-hop based than usual, it comes with a complex combination of other sounds, beats, and rhythms – such as jazz, drum machines, dreamy synths and instrumental indulgences which create something much more interesting. Each track offers something quite contrasting, with amazing energy throughout. Track five, ‘Give you up’, is reminiscent of a mixture of Chromeo and Daft punk – however with Guts signature sounds, you can tell those beats are his.

The album has certainly got that ‘French’ feel, which is more feel-good and catchy than ever. It is certainly a move forward from his previous more instrumental music – whether that is favourable I will leave up to you. I think what this album does well is intertwine the two, so there is more variation – and I think this comes with the collaboration involved. Each artist/musician bring distinct variance to the album which gives it an overall inconsistent feel.

I think with Eternal, Guts has tried to appeal to a wider audience, however with the ability to keep his recognisable tonality run throughout. It’s more experimental than usual, and I can only applaud Guts for branching out and making something different – a more risky move when it comes to die-hard fans because it could either flop or pop. If you want to experience the Eternal daydream then make sure you get this album, guaranteed to brighten up those rainy April showers and get you in the groove for brighter things ahead. ‘Dance, Love & Die’, the finale track of the album and probably my favourite ends the album on a high spirits, more groove than imaginable and the perfect way to end the journey through Eternal.

Eternal is available now on Heavenly Sweetness.

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