Gabriel & the Hounds “Kiss Full of Teeth”

Communion, 2012

My what a big talent you have Mr Levine

• Amongst the burble and parp of electronics, recognizable patterns flash occasionally past like Fincas glimpsed on a Spanish train journey. Then with the clusters of music that is ‘A Beginning’, it delivers the listener straight into the bustling musical metropolis for ‘What Good Would That Do?”

• Gabriel Levine offers a mixture of the bucolic, the urban, the melancholic and the urbane, there’s an unpredictability about where the songs might go.  ‘Lovely Thief’ starts with muted guitar and vocals, sounding something like, say, Mark Lanegan, then an insistent string sections muscles in, then an elegant small ensemble swirl launches an almost waltz, then guitars ring, strings flitter and float and it ends up pricking up my ears, it intrigues and I like that.

  You’d might not think that a track which starts with a flicker of electronics and a vintage Jesus and Mary Chain drumbeat would suddenly be assaulted by a violin flicking out serialist patterns in ever tightening spirals whilst brass flutters like a breeze battered flag, but that’s ‘When We Die in South America’ does. There are interlocking patterns pulsing through the songs; ‘Who Will Fall on Knees’ is made up of a series of motifs all circling and encircling, drums, guitars and strings all locked into their individual and collective grooves.

  There’s an interesting dynamic at work; Levine mixes some deep rock, I’ve mentioned Mark Lanegan, and the Screaming Trees are a decent reference point.  ‘Wire and Stone’ has the cavernous vocals and the promise of something approaching (yes I have to say it) grunge but instead of embracing the easy cliché he subverts it, amongst the clatter of drums liquid brass pours out and it’s more akin to Sufjan Stevens than Soundgarden (thankfully). It’s a device that brings Levine rich rewards and gives the record real interest throughout repeated listens. A really really good debut.