When I first received an update to my writers page I was instantly drawn to Yagull. Not bcause I knew who or what it was, but because it was the most abstract title in the list. I quickly turned to Youtube to get a glimpse at what it was I was about to experience and found a lot of clips of the band performing instrumental covers in their own style. I liked it.
Monday rolls around and I get into the car and head to work with Yagull’s latest, Kai, in the stereo and start to listen. Not at all what I was expecting actually. Absolutely not the album to have playing as you drive through the icy roads at 5 in the morning.
Kai is an album that is comprised of instrumental tracks that lay heavily n classical sounds. The album features a couple of reprisals from their 2012 Films album (Dark, Sound Of M), as well as a couple of rock covers (Wishing Well by Free and Burn by Deep Purple).
After taking a couple of sleepy spins with this very relaxing album I pinpointed the bands use of classical music by era. You’ve got some tracks that sound retro or classic rock like, others that sound like they’d be comfortable in the Medieval era, and some Spanish guitar influences that take me back to working a janitorial job at a craft store that had a collection of elevator tune inspired albums next to the potpourri.
Honestly I completely respected the mastery of the instrument playing on the album, the construction of each track as a composition and the bands ability to go in any direction. The album just isn’t for me. Not at the moment anyway. There’s some album that you can listen to at anytime and they keep your attention. Yagull’s Kai is a masterwork of classically influenced tunes, but I rarely tap into that genre of music so I just wasn’t feeling it.
Is it a bad album. Far from it. Like I said, masterfully crafted, but it seems like a hard sell to me unless you absolutely love classical music. That’s just me though. Check it out for yourself and see what you think. Enjoy.