From Bongo Boy Records’ stable of independent, incredibly capable artists, comes Simonne Draper – an EXTREMELY talented classical acoustic guitarist and composer hailing from the Czech Republic, and currently conquering most of Europe with her incredible string-picking acumen. With her very next album, Silence of Eclipse, releasing June 4th, she was kind enough to debut its first single, “Accordiana” – and we were lucky enough to be an honored early recipient. So, let’s take a listen to Simonne Draper’s latest, and see if it measures up to her usual brand of classical, oft-Spanish-flavored fantasia.
“Accordiana” begins with lush strings and staccato guitar strikes – perhaps mimicking a rumble – before classical/flamenco guitar flutters assert themselves as the melodic lead. The song has a particular pace, like a traveler’s determined gait across green, lofty hills, roaring rivers, and perhaps against ravaging winds. The production is perfect; the accompanying instrumentation grand, and the guitar so adroitly recorded, nary a frequency of this wonderful instrument is lost, sacrificed, or artificially oversaturated; it sounds sharp in the highs, thundering in the lows, and more importantly, blissfully natural.
“Accordiana” continues with its icy, seafaring strings that occasionally answer the guitar in descending staccato notes. And Simonne’s guitar moves from hopeful phrases to more ominous lower plucking, granting images of shadow-bathed forests waiting to devour the next ensemble of naive adventurers – a friendly fellowship raimented in bright silks and glimmering steel, but not enough experience between them to endure the darkness that awaits.
When the song reaches its end, there are a few tasteful flutters, a return to those lower notes, and an especially ominous, final and sustained note. It seems our imagined adventurers have engaged with the music’s promised peril. But…..is it good? Yes, both technically (which is a given) AND melodically – because for all that accurate finger-pressing and fiery plucking, there’s a song in there, and it’s emoting something vivid, majestic, and richly foreboding. Give Simonne Draper’s latest track, “Accordiana,” a try. And you’ll learn why Europe, and now the West, are incredibly anxious for that June 4th release