A product of the not-so-underground, genre-bending melting pot that is Naarm (Melbourne, Australia), producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Don Glori (AKA Gordon Li) prepares to unleash his forthcoming album ‘Don’t Forget To Have Fun’ via DeepMatter Records. The third single to be unveiled from the record, ‘All Seeds’, highlights Don’s delicate touch. It sees him build a warm arrangement around an intoxicating bossa nova groove, complimented by fluttering saxophone pads, soft vocal murmurs, and flowing nylon stringed guitar.

Following the release of his much-heralded 2022 LP ‘Welcome’, a subsequent sweep of the Australian festival circuit and an EU / UK tour, Don found himself straight back in the studio but coming up short this time around. He explains: “Don’t Forget To Have Fun was initially recorded in mid 2022 after several months touring my first album Welcome and at a semi-tumultuous time in my life. Add in a tough 3 days in the studio – broken equipment, illness, burn out from the touring, 40-degree Australian summer heat, a bike accident, and I was left finding it quite hard to enjoy the music. All these things combined made me decide to put the DFTHF session recordings on ice indefinitely.”

Following his relocation to London, UK in 2023, Don managed to tap into a potent creative current, by taking himself to a place of discomfort, and taking his creative back to basics – allowing additional room for experimentation. He says “I revisited the album after moving to London in May 2023, I was living in a tiny room with barely any equipment and my only income was from the slight bit of touring I was doing which was all going towards rent and groceries. It was a good opportunity to redefine the songs from the DFTHF sessions and inject some new life into them. I had just finished touring Europe, moved to a new city, didn’t know anyone, and had all the free time in the world to experiment with wacky, zany ideas. In the end I re-recorded a lot of the parts on the record in the kitchen of my Whitechapel flat while my housemates were at work. (You can hear the ambulances in the background when you isolate some of the tracks)”.

This invigorating approach helped distil the initial album sketches into a compelling and intoxicating listening experience – with all tracks sharing similar subtle themes and commonalities running throughout. Lead single ‘First Touch’ found widespread support across Triple R, PBS-FM and community radio across Australia, seducing listeners with a trance-inducing groove and soundscape channelling the energy of late-night soul and instrumental cuts from the likes of Lynda Dawn, Sade, and John Carrol Kirby. On the album’s title, Don explains: ‘The name Don’t Forget To Have Fun is a nice reminder to myself about the journey of the album. How you can change the narrative by keeping a positive attitude, trusting the process and continually experimenting.’ A true work of art, traversing jazz, funk, soul, RnB, samba and beyond, this record is hard to describe, but even harder to forget.

Don Glori will release ‘All Seeds’ on May 10th and ‘Don’t Forget To Have Fun’ on June 7th via DeepMatter Records.

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Cet article Don Glori – All Seeds [DeepMatter Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Aptly titled, ‘Welcome’ is the debut album from Don Glori. A kaleidoscopic free dive into his world, featuring 8 recordings of revolving jazz, Brazilian, soul and funk inspired compositions spinning together and blurring into a genre bending slew of new music.

There is an intangible element of joy and connection sitting just outside the grasp of description or definition that can be felt throughout this album. Each song on this album captures the spirit and irrepressible energy that underpins the core of the Don Glori project. Imperfections are captured along with the moments of transcendence. Layers of vocal harmonies oscillate next to pulsating samba rhythms while spiritual overtones permeate throughout. Congas and percussion form a holy union with the drum kit, co-piloted by Don Glori’s own bass lines. Saxophones, horns and flutes flutter in between the musical canyons carved out by the piano and vibraphone. When you press all of these forces together you can start to feel the intangible; the intrinsic human elements existing in the creases. The sweat, excitement and willingness of each musician to dedicate their spirit and take risks on every track of this album.

Pre-order.

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Cet article Don Glori – Dlareme [Bedroom Suck Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.