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Reviews - Gabriel Gordon - Burn Magazine

It's taken me a long time to deal with this album. A hell of a lot longer than was necessary.

Then again, there's something going on here that really shouldn't be. A groove so deep that Lenny Kravitz should be getting into his car just about... now... and making for the hills. Something of a surprise then that despite its superficial similarities with Kravitz, Frequency couldn't be further removed if it tried. Where Kravitz cried loud over lost loves and how prejudiced people can be, Gordon seems to take it all in stride and when those subjects are covered in song, it seems to be more as a point of fact than for any preachable reasons.

The lead track "People of the World" is an obvious single choice but to stop there is to miss the point. Gordon comes into his own when he melts down a host of contemporary influences with the more sublime likes of Stevie Salas (oh yes.. I can see it in there somewhere!). The title track "Frequency" is so smooth it literally drips from the speakers with the intent to stick in your mind like a honey sandwich.

It reminds me a lot of the day I discovered Carol King's Tapestry in my old man's record collection. I became infatuated with the structure of the songs and the honesty with which they were delivered. The same is true here. While Kravitz is up there with the kings... that isn't in question, Gordon is down here on the ground, telling it like it is and having a damn fine time while he goes about it and if I were to mention the Prince word here, I wouldn't be ashamed of myself.

Certainly not an album for making friends to. More of an album to wade in selfish joy that you're the keeper of a big, big secret that the world hasn't heard about yet.. but it won't last. With a voice like this and a guitar that could need surgery to be removed from his heart, it's only a matter of time before the world crumbles at the feet of this fine artist.

Frequency is nothing less than a spiritual awakening. Go find the most beautiful girl in the world and dance naked until dawn under a crimson moon to this and you really won't much care what happens in life after that...

Sion Smith - buRn magazine

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