Félix Rabin – Blue Days EP
On new EP Blue Days, Swiss born French singer-songwriter-guitarist Félix Rabin has fully embraced his Euro-pop and atmospheric rock crossover sensibilities, to fine, five-track effect.
Recorded in the company of band mates Francesco Gagna (electric & acoustic guitars), Vincenzo Capodivento (bass) and James Morgan (drums), with contributions from Christoph Huele (Hammond) and P. Brunkow (grand piano), Blue Days also doubles as a musical storybook of young Monsieur Rabin's life & musical travels through his mid to late twenties (the gestation period for some of these songs goes back to 2018), and the significance of turning thirty.
The beautifully sparse and echoing guitar atmospherics of downtempo opener 'Find Me' has Félix Rabin resplendent in his contemporary, Euro soul-pop clothing, accompanied by a softer-voiced delivery that rises on the fuller sounding, tempo-changing bridge.
The up-beat and shimmering Euro-pop-rock of 'As She Comes,' which follows, is just screaming to receive airplay on commercial pop and AOR stations across the continent.
An ear-wormery summer song for any season, 'As She Comes' also benefits from a dropped tempo Middle 8 and cleverly utilised counter-harmonies on the final choruses.
The vibrant, hard-pop arrangement of Bruce Springsteen’s 'Dancing in the Dark' is the perfect fit for Félix Rabin’s musical, and metaphorical, Blue Days (that "blue light" of nostalgia/ passing of youth, memories and a little melancholy).
Contrast is then provided by 'What You Need,' a blues-tinged, soulful love song that features a tasteful solo John Mayer would love to have called his own (that Rabin reminds of Mayer here is no bad thing, albeit this is a player with his own sound, melodic phrasing, and tone).
The EP closes on an acoustic version of 'As She Comes,' the piano led delicacy of the arrangement allowing Félix Rabin to bring further clarity to the song’s melancholic, past times lyric ("Getting lost down in memory lane, anything to numb out the pain, tears mixed up with the rain").
It's interesting to track the now ten year career of Félix Rabin through his previous releases, from the blues infused rock of 2018 merch desk EP Down Our Roads (early Stevie Ray Vaughan influences and Hendrix bravado to the fore) to 2020’s Pogboy, where he broadened both his sound and musical identity, including some nice Gilmour/ Floyd-esque moments.
And now EP number three, which tracks the musical maturity of a songwriter and player as he leaves the Blue Days of his twenties behind and heads for the hopeful, Blues Skies of his forthcoming, full-length debut album.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Recorded in the company of band mates Francesco Gagna (electric & acoustic guitars), Vincenzo Capodivento (bass) and James Morgan (drums), with contributions from Christoph Huele (Hammond) and P. Brunkow (grand piano), Blue Days also doubles as a musical storybook of young Monsieur Rabin's life & musical travels through his mid to late twenties (the gestation period for some of these songs goes back to 2018), and the significance of turning thirty.
The beautifully sparse and echoing guitar atmospherics of downtempo opener 'Find Me' has Félix Rabin resplendent in his contemporary, Euro soul-pop clothing, accompanied by a softer-voiced delivery that rises on the fuller sounding, tempo-changing bridge.
The up-beat and shimmering Euro-pop-rock of 'As She Comes,' which follows, is just screaming to receive airplay on commercial pop and AOR stations across the continent.
An ear-wormery summer song for any season, 'As She Comes' also benefits from a dropped tempo Middle 8 and cleverly utilised counter-harmonies on the final choruses.
The vibrant, hard-pop arrangement of Bruce Springsteen’s 'Dancing in the Dark' is the perfect fit for Félix Rabin’s musical, and metaphorical, Blue Days (that "blue light" of nostalgia/ passing of youth, memories and a little melancholy).
Contrast is then provided by 'What You Need,' a blues-tinged, soulful love song that features a tasteful solo John Mayer would love to have called his own (that Rabin reminds of Mayer here is no bad thing, albeit this is a player with his own sound, melodic phrasing, and tone).
The EP closes on an acoustic version of 'As She Comes,' the piano led delicacy of the arrangement allowing Félix Rabin to bring further clarity to the song’s melancholic, past times lyric ("Getting lost down in memory lane, anything to numb out the pain, tears mixed up with the rain").
It's interesting to track the now ten year career of Félix Rabin through his previous releases, from the blues infused rock of 2018 merch desk EP Down Our Roads (early Stevie Ray Vaughan influences and Hendrix bravado to the fore) to 2020’s Pogboy, where he broadened both his sound and musical identity, including some nice Gilmour/ Floyd-esque moments.
And now EP number three, which tracks the musical maturity of a songwriter and player as he leaves the Blue Days of his twenties behind and heads for the hopeful, Blues Skies of his forthcoming, full-length debut album.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ