Review Summary: Without question the best musical output of the year thus far.
Gavin Castleton has his fingers in a fair few pies; over the past 15 years the man has appeared in several bands (Ebu Gogo, Gruvis Malt and the spectacularly named Johnny Classic and the Classic Johns) as well has releasing four solo LP’s and two EP’s, yet despite this he remains, by and large, an unknown entity. If there is any justice in the world
Home should change that. It may be early days, but Castleton has released a worthy contender for album of the year.
Conceptually,
Home is rooted in a zombie narrative, following the standard story arc found in most movies about murderous hordes of the undead. The zombie uprising narrative takes place during the rise and fall of Gavins long term relationship with his Fiancée (they split up as
Home was being recorded). Castleton plays himself, with vocalist Lauran Coleman serving as the female lead. Following the story is by no means essential to your enjoyment of the record, in fact you could ignore it altogether if you wish, but it is without doubt an interesting concept and following it will lead you to a conclusion (
End Credits) that will either raise a smile and a chuckle or leave you feeling cheated (I myself fall into the former camp).
However, what will hook you about
Home is of course the music and the vocal performance. On this album, everyone involved excels; the record shifts tone and genre multiple times, often in the same song, although if you had to pigeonhole the album to a single genre it would likely be progressive-pop. The arrangements are complex, textured and rapidly changing, with literally not one moment of filler (you could argue that
The Onslaught is a comparatively dull track compared to the rest, but it fits in so well with the narrative, serving as a news announcement of the zombie hoard, against the backdrop of suspense inducing drum beat, that its presence is essential). Album opener
Bugguts sets the pace perfectly, an upbeat pop-funk, carnival-esque song the perfectly segues into
Coffeelocks, which introduces the romantic element of the narrative. From then on,
Home touches a multitude of genres, from trip-hop to funk to soft rock to ballad. With such a melting pot of ideas there is the danger that the album could become too dense and under-realised but thankfully the album is so perfectly paced, allowing the right level of breathing room at just the right times, that
Homes 50 minute running time expires before you know it.
The individual performances on
Home are excellent, with both Gavin and Lauren displaying impressive range and variation. However, what raises their performances to the upper echelons, though, are the ways in which the two vocalists riff off each other, with plenty of call and response, ensuring that the songs never become stagnant and are always engaging (which is essential as it is the vocals that are the real driving force of the songs). One of the most interesting vocal performances on the record comes solely from Gavin, in the track
Oregon, where he sings in sort-of-zombie style, rasping and slavering at times. The track features Gavin and a subtle keyboard line, building momentum toward an epic build-up, only to end as soon as it peaks. Some may take issue with this, citing that there is no pay off after a four minute crescendo, but the more you listen to it, the more you realise just how fitting it is (it’s a move that is very reminiscent of Jefferson Airplanes
White Rabbit). While it is easy to pick standout moments on
Home (too easy, in fact; one could easily comment positively on every single track) it is an album that is just that. An
album. This is something that needs to be taken as a whole and should be viewed as a single entity to derive maximum pleasure.
Home features multiple complex arrangements complemented by two impressive vocal performances, all of which wouldn’t work nearly as well were it not for the phenomenal production job. It really is something special; every instrument has the perfect level of clarity, with no instrument or vocalist drowning the other out. There are also many subtle musical touches that it will take multiple listens to fully dissect the many aspects, ensuring
Home stays fresh several times over.
While it is true that the ideas on display aren’t entirely original, it is not in the originality of the song writing that
Home succeeds, it is in the flawlessness of its execution, and on that count, it is a marvellous achievement. Not just a musically and artistically, but also in both its accessibility and in its longevity. It’s hard to imagine anyone not finding something to like (and if you aren’t compelled to get down and boogie when you hear the outro to
Stampete, well, I’m sorry to tell you; you ain’t got no groove, son). In a year that has seen some standout albums from well known artists,
Home manages to rise above the others as the-little-album-that-could, to what is without question the best musical output of the year thus far. It will take something truly special to outdo it.
