“Where you start’s not where you’ll end,
You strain to see more clearly –
Like being led by blending lights.
I thought I saw,
I thought I knew
You made it sound so certain
How did all these lines become so blurry?
Won’t you hold my hand in the darkest night?
Won’t you hold my hand till the morning light?
Won’t you hold me now when I’m weak inside?
Will you hold me through these blurry lights?
What we want and we mean – my body’s tired and broken
Nothing’s ever black and white.
I thought the years would make me wise –
When was I mistaken?
When did life become so blurry?
Won’t you hold my hand in the darkest night?
Won’t you hold my hand till the morning light?
Won’t you hold me now when I’m weak inside?
Will you hold me through these blurry lights?
… Love make us stronger… ”
– From Blurry (song no.3 in Gang of Ballet’s new Form And Function EP)
Pop sensibility, interesting drum machine patterns, the ebb and flow of a fantastic deep bass, and genius lyrics that are both conscious and catchy are just a few of the reasons why I’ll continue to rate Gangs of Ballet as one of my five most favourite South African bands (I am still putting that list together, it just seems unfair to say they are number one – I’m just trying to remain objective here…).
In Nylon and Blurry we hear the band embrace a refreshingly minimalistic sound (quite popular in music today) without robbing us of their deliciously complex arrangements and trademark chord sequences (more pronounced in songs like, I Can Hear You and Seven).
Not everything is perfect though. I’m a serial “Never-Listen-To-Singles-Wait-For-The-Full-Project” person, and with good reason: I constantly get disappointed by the singles that artists choose to put out but end up liking them when I’ve listened to them within the context of the full project. I feel that I proved myself right again with the first single released from this project, Always. I felt the same way about Always as I did about the first single, Don’t Let Me Go, from Gangs of Ballet’s debut album Yes-No-Grey – I don’t like it singularly, and will argue that it is one of the weakest tracks on the project, but the project itself is still mind-blowing and the amount of collective quality that it delivers as a South African product is tremendous.
As a lover of Jesus, I am continuously encouraged and particularly edified by the common themes of love, faith, hope in the Gangs of Ballet songs that are, for the greater part, written by band front-man and guitarist, Brad Klynsmith – the band also includes Brad’s younger brother, Josh Klynsmith and Jonathan Rich, the drummer and pianist respectively. The songwriter regularly asks questions and talks about the struggles one might have in life – particularly when one has to make good decisions or hold onto truth. I am even more encouraged by knowing that the band knows and loves Jesus and that their message is so widely accepted on our local Radio Stations and such.
It’s Monday today, and I understand that your day might be off to a rough start. If so, grab yourself a coffee and some encouragement in the way of new music that’s good for your soul from the “African Coldplay” Gangs Of Ballet (that comparison didn’t come from me – promise).
Buy the album here: http://gob.lnk.to/FormAndFunction1