Diablo (Vinyl)
Close your eyes and listen to Gabe Gurnsey’s latest offering, “Diablo!”
You might be transported to a German autobahn after nightfall, strobe lights flashing in your private imaginarium. Gurnsey’s music is like an aural cinema, conjuring multiple screenplays, usually involving the darkness. “Diablo” moves in unexpected directions, and you quickly realise you can relax and trust it to make you feel extremely good. We’re in a place of giddy echoes, 808 boings, sexy-menacing vocals and soft throbs, with lyrics full of pleasure and desire; like proper rave lyrics, they are in turn filthy, grandiose, devotional, and cryptic.
“Diablo” is the follow-up to Gurnsey’s acclaimed 2018 debut, “Physical”. Where “Physical” followed the arc of a night out in a linear way, “Diablo” expands time, slows it down and opens it up, showing a quiet confidence and progression. You’ll hear all sorts of influences here, from Simple Minds, Suicide, DAF, Peaches, Detroit techno, deep house, electro and Eurythmics. It’s a generous stew which shows its appreciation for his forebears without ever being overshadowed by them.
