Forever

Gus Gus Forever!

A distant northern island Iceland has presented a world music scene with bright and unusual artists more than once. And it was always a common thing to know that the musical tastes of those artists were somehow connected with electronic directions, let’s take Bjork or Mum for instance. Apparently, severe weather conditions and rare groves of arctic birches have a special effect on Iceland musicians making them seek for inspiration in the beauty of synthesized sounds but not in amenities of living nature. After five long years since the release of their recent record a well-known Icelandic techno/house band Gus Gus has finally released a brand new, sixth in succession album Forever. According to the information from unconfirmed sources the choice of the album’s title was influenced by an event that took place with Gus Gus in Moscow, when someone has yelled out from the long queue waiting to get into the club where the band was going to perform “Gus Gus Forever!” And this slogan sounds true indeed – Gus Gus always create a special atmosphere during their live shows and literally drive people to the state of deep dance floor trance. This trio enjoys an indisputable authority in the world of techno music and possesses a whole bunch of followers, so this is why the realization of the fact that their new album is full of great techno pieces comes naturally and even predictably.

Forever lays an emphasis on vocals

Forever became a second album recorded with a so to say cut line up. Nine members of Gus Gus left the band after Gus Gus vs. T-World album was issued in 2000 and this just couldn’t help reflecting on the band’s new material. Overall, Forever is a dance oriented album, however, the influences of trip hop - a genre characteristic for Gus Gus early records - present here too. 12 tracks of Forever abound with various sonic textures, starting from electro funk arrangements of Hold You to technocratic air of Porn. But the main emphasis of many songs is laid on vocal parties. Besides the principal Gus Gus’s singer the album features cameos of Eurovision top 4 finalist Paul Oscar (Need In Me), singer and songwriter Aaron Carl (Hold On You) and a former Gus Gus’s lead singer Daniel August who performed vocals on Moss – a track that leaked into various compilations even before the album was officially released. One of the most bright and outstanding tracks on Forever is If You Don’t Jump (You’re English) where the lead ideologist and band’s inspirer President Bongo comes out as the main vocalist.

Gus Gus know how to fill songs with emotions

In general, the result that Gus Gus achieve on Forever may be described as mid tempo house, which strives to avoid stylistic clichés. The musicians orient themselves on the electronic music of early 90’s but still try to hide its influences under the sounds of additional instruments, what in its turn creates a pretty original sounding. Unlike their numerous electronic scene colleagues Gus Gus manage to fill the songs with emotions that can make not only an eerie technocratic atmosphere but also rather friendly mood. And they use every element to make this work: diverse keyboard bridges, vocal parties and even lyrics, which is so uncommon for techno. That’s why the album is good for both dance floor and for those who simply likes diving into the atmosphere of synthesized sounds. Forever will definitely become a perfect addition to your techno music collection regardless the class of listeners you type yourself to be.