Euskaraz irakurri: Gorka Urbizuren “Hasiera bat”, kantuz kantu

It’s been almost five years since Gorka Urbizu announced, in an exciting press conference held in Lekunberri, an “indefinite break” in the career of Berri Txarrak after 25 years of fruitful, frenetic and uninterrupted career of the group. He then explained that the group had to stop so he could move forward.

It has been more than four years since the last chord of the Navarrese group was suspended in the Navarra Arena that unforgettable November night, for the refuge of some and – hopefully – creative fuel for others. Now it comes by surprise Hasiera batUrbizu’s first solo album, and he does it completely and without warning, without previews or previews of previews, so common in our era, that of noise.

Let’s delve into the ten songs proposed by this simple, naked but deep album with a (more) relaxed tempo and slow digestion.

“Maitasun bat”

Gorka Urbizu welcomes us to this new dimension of his creative universe with cadent rhythms, not with jerks; In this new beginning (long live the beginnings!), the Navarrese singer and guitarist does not greet with naked songs devoid of all interference, without distortion.

Whoever presses the button with anxiety or curiosity play will be greeted with echoes of soul as soon as the record begins to spin (or, let’s update, the time bar advances): the first song, “Maitasun bat”, is built on caressing drums, a dull and opaque bass sound and, in its last quarter, harmonious choruses; From this beginning, the hard work carried out by producer Jordi Matas and co-producer Joan Pons is palpable in Hasiera bat about Gorka’s substantial and elaborate compositions.

This first song already warns us, first of all, that pauses, silences and the alteration of dynamics have a fundamental role in the minimalist conception of the album, and offer a basic resource to musicians in their effort to “undress and empty the songs to their minimum expression. Beautiful. Raw. Pure”, as they themselves explain in the press sheet that accompanies the release.

“Bat theory”

“Teoria bat”, presented as the album’s first single, is a song with a more lively rhythm, which makes it fit more comfortably within the pop rock canon. It also uses a catchier melody, as well as a very effective drum rhythm that keeps moving us forward as the song develops. This second song Hasiera bat He also gives us, if all the above were not enough, one of those phrases that Gorka usually engraves in our memory with each release: “Gauzak ez dira horrela, gauzak horrelaxe daude” (things are not like that, things are like this ).

“Bat Train”

Open the third song of Hasiera bat another phrase that surely more than one person will end up writing in ink on their skin: “Ikusmenak itsututa gaude” (we are blinded by sight).

“Tren bat” is a song with a more content beat; The chorus advances relentlessly with each snare hit, like a train.

From that train, Urbizu sings of a failed world, a disastrous world that we are preparing to hand over to our descendants: “Aukeratu zure drama / titiburuak pixelatuta / pistolk prime time-an / hauxe da jasoko duzun mundua (choose your drama / pixelated nipples / guns in prime time / this is the world you will receive). The artist, “like a lightning rod that attracts the tensions of his time”, as the Valencian writer Rafael Chirbes said.

In any case, there is, there has to be the possibility that everything is not final, and the lyrical self of the song tells us that he has made us a song “gauzak okertzen diren unerako” (for the moment when things go wrong). “Agian bada zerbait / mendi gailurrez pixka bat harago” (Maybe there is something / a little beyond the mountain tops).

“Toki bat”

The shortest song on the album is also one of the most interesting musically. It is guided from the beginning by the bass, and serves as an example of the essential role that this instrument plays throughout the entire album (Jordi Matas does stratospheric work on the four strings), as well as a catalog of good practices in composition. for musicians: guitars that enter and leave the plane, constant changes of dynamics and accents in the execution, question-answer effects in the guitars, these suggestive passages with a chromatic rise… Enjoyable and analyzable in equal parts.

“Janela bat”

This simple (yes, the word again simple as leitmotiv) and melancholic song offers its center to the voice and the guitar, but without these being at any time surrounded by the bass and the drums; These are the ones who diligently offer you an elegant and pleasant nuclear space.

Furthermore, as translator Isabel Etxeberria Ramírez reported on the janela.

Zenbat aldiz bilatuko zen gaur hiztegietan #janela hitza?@ElhuyarHizk @UZEI_ @plazaberri

— Isabel Etxeberria Ramírez (@isabeletx) January 15, 2024

“Kolore bat”

If I may make a reference to Berri Txarrak, it is permissible to remember his song “26 Segundotan” when listening to the beginning of “Kolore bat.” However, beyond Urbizu’s tone of voice and his lyrical universe, the similarities between Hasiera bat and Berri Txarrak end, really and as expected, in that second EP of the monumental Denbora gives bakarra polygraphand the resemblance to this one is not too evident either.

The rhythm and melody of “Kolore bat” revives that soul aftertaste that the production and the beginning of the album awakened in us, and the richness of both the production and the composition is once again evident: the ear appreciates those crossings between the line of bass and guitar arpeggios and, above all, the tension of the chords that appear from the second minute of “Kolore bat”.

“Lilura bat”

“Lilura bat”, eminently luminous, brings us closer to the most joyful pop in both its melody and its lyrics. The latter is also aligned, in this song, with the original naturalness and simplicity of the album.

It is sung, as a sign of this simplicity and rejection of any temptation to epic: “Ibaiertzean utzi ditut / ezpata eta ezkutua / bi-biak” (I have left on the river bank / the sword and the shield / both).

The song illuminates the listener with its light, and its brilliance is not far from the georgeharrisoniana “Here comes the sun.”

“Etxe bat”

If writer Raymond Carver had written songs, they would be like this.

In this space, expanded by the reverb of the guitar (“a house”, the song is titled), there is room for customs and the infinite scope of reality.

Guitar, voice and poetry that rest at times on a keyboard mattress. This huge song doesn’t need anything else.

“Sute bat”

In its simplicity, the song pleasantly traps the listener between silences and eighth notes. The fusion, at the beginning and at the end, between the arpeggios and the muted guitar stands out.

The drum rhythm, more complicated, also generates a new dynamic that changes the pace marked by the album.

“Besterik ez”

The nudity that runs through the entire album returns to its maximum expression in this, their longest song.

The bass and drums, which delay their entry until the third minute, project the song, far from containing it, as precise as throughout the entire album but making the compositions breathe. Its rhythms and melodies and guitars that avoid the obvious accompany us towards the end, “besterik ez” (nothing more). Nothing more and nothing less.

Hasiera bat It is an album that grows and grows with each listen, full of small winks and signals for the attentive listener. Gorka Urbizu himself explains it better than I in the press release, when talking about his recommendations for use: “Stop and listen. Open those doors that only open from the inside. Get away from the madding crowd. Say only what is strictly necessary “Try to achieve the beauty of the simple, without fear of what may arise.”

We appreciate it.

Source: Eitb

Bruce

Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.