Gabriella Cohen‘s debut album is one I’ve been waiting for and will always love. I found her music through her work as one half of raucous garage rock duo The Furrs. While I enjoyed the uncontrollable sass of their fuzz rock, something deeper in Cohen’s writing as a solo artist grabbed me when I heard the first single from this album (“I Don’t Feel So Alive”). She reaches further into emotions and expression with a creativity unshackled by form. Cohen recently relocated from Brisbane to (arguably) the Australian city with the biggest music scene: Melbourne. Before she left Queensland, she recorded and produced this album and described the process as follows:
Full Closure and No Details’ was made in the autumn of April, 2015, in the remote country side of South East Queensland. It was recorded by partner in crime, Kate ‘Babyshakes’ Dillon and myself, using two microphones and a bravado that could blow Al Pacino out of the water. Thank God Kate’s parents decided to go on a 10 day cruise. They came back looking refreshed, we came back former versions of ourselves, but there you have it… the tortured musings of pink nostalgia.. It’s hardly real- but you gotta believe it
Full Closure and No Details is a texturally rich and curiously diverse exploration in garage pop. In a world of albums heaped with filler, it consistently reengages the listener by challenging the conventional structure, flow, and cohesive feel of an album. All ten tracks of Cohen’s full-length debut are effortlessly stitched together with nonchalant charm and a woozy sway.
Cohen sounds the most approachable on the warm and patient atmosphere of “Beaches”, the warped shimmy of “Feelin’ Fine”, the bitter poetry of “Downtown.” Her psychedelic tendencies shine amongst the choir on “Yesterday” while her clever use of an organ on “Sever The Walls” helps lift the song to the next level. Perhaps the most unexpected track of the bunch, “Piano Song” darkly trudges along a series of low notes played only on the instrument the song is so appropriate named after but doesn’t loose the hazy momentum of the album. Sunny and slow, “Dream Song”comes in overlapping waves of echoing guitars that seem to ebb and flow from a distance without a word. “This Could Be Love” is a long and weary return home to love complete with backing choir and male harmonization. Both “Alien Anthem” and “I Don’t Feel So Alive” make loud, anthemic statements that build and release with big pauses and just the right amount vocal adornments.
The album lays out honest love stories in memorable melodies, heavy percussion, searing guitar riffs, and a plodding piano all casually caressed by Cohen’s intoxicating voice. Dark but determined, the record is cool without ever trying to be. Pick up a digital or vinyl copy of Full Closure and No Details on Cohen’s Bandcamp.
Favorite Tracks: Alien Anthem, I Don’t Feel So Alive, & Dream Song
