Onet Muzyka- a review of the album “Dreamer”

Onet Muzyka – a review of the album “Dreamer”

The new album of Michał Szpak ”Dreamer” receives very good reviews. This time Interia writes ”This dream is beautiful” and gives the album 8/10 points. Bravo!

https://muzyka.interia.pl/recenzje/news-recenzja-michal-szpak-dreamer-piekny-jest-ten-sen,nId,2631333

One of the most colorful birds of the Polish music scene comes back with the second studio album in his career. It’s an album where he faces his own image, and also talks about the emotions inside him and the values he constantly believes in. Does Michał Szpak have a chance to enchant the public in 2018 the same way he has done many times in the past?

It’s 2011. A young, eccentrically dressed boy with a strong, rock voice arouses extreme emotions among those watching the “X Factor” program. Some people start calling  the participant names, others are amazed with his strong rock voice and strange, crazy creations which he wears on the stage. This boy is Michał Szpak. Eventually he will place himself on the second position of the TV talent show.

Later on, he will record his debut album “Byle być sobą” which will become platinum. Over the years, he will also become one of the most expressive native artists what will give him the chance to represent Poland during the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song “Color Of Your Life”. Although he will not win the contest, he will win the hearts of many Europeans and will even manage to consolidate fans around him.

Those are the reasons why “Dreamer” was a truly awaited album that was supposed to confirm the music class of the musician. Has this happened? Oh yes. When compared to “Color Of Your Life” this is a big progress. The compositions are more complex, more mature, drawing from a larger stylistic palette. Those who consider Szpak  as a screaming and overly emotional vocalist will be really surprised by the content of this record. It seems that the producers Sławomir Sokołowski and Aldona Dąbrowska managed to stop the vocalist from singing too high melodic parties, which in the past were really unbearable.

On the album “Dreamer”, the vocalist sounds much more subtle, sometimes even silent, slowly dosing emotions. We are talking here about the jazz ballad “Let Me Dream”, where we are moving to a smoky New York pub from the 1950s, where there stands Michał with a microphone, instead of Frank Sinatra,  and he almost whispers the entire song into our ears. And although we can feel some kind of a mannerism, it is a very interesting attempt by the Polish artist.

A song “Rainbow” is kept at a much slower pace, and it is also entirety composed for the piano. The delicate sounds fall down on us in an intimate atmosphere, leaving plenty of space for the soothing vocal.

As I have already mentioned, the album is very diverse and apart from reflective songs, there are also songs from completely different regions. Rock enthusiasts will surely like the slowly developing but powerful in the chorus “Dreamer” (“Thanks to You My Friend”), “King of the Season” with the accompaniment of the strings and charming, acoustic “Sweet Cherry”. “Blue Moon” is alluring, inspired by pop of the 80’s and “Don’t Poison Your Heart” has an intriguing, energetic chorus, literally exploding on the ascetic verses, where we hear only single keystrokes.There are elements of jazz appearing again in “Stronger” flowing lightly in the chillout surroundings, thus introducing a pleasant, casual atmosphere. At the end, we have “Way to Stars”, where classical music (!) is unexpectedly merged into an exciting whole with the background ‘’made dirty’’ with the guitar.

And the cons? These, unfortunately, can be found there as well. The entire album is recorded in English and Szpak operates this language in a specific way that can sometimes be irritating. I am also under the impression that it would be possible to squeeze more from “Dreamer” when it comes to the production. Therefore, you can feel some monotony there and lack of fresh ideas.

Despite those minuses, the album is really pleasant to listen. It turns out that Michał Szpak has the courage, not only to dress and look extravagant, but also has the courage to look for new means of artistic expressions. He does not follow any schemes on “Dreamer”, he does not copy himself, and the contrary – he experiments and goes into the areas unknown to him. These searches may certainly appeal to you and it is worth to get acquainted with them.

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