The subtleties of his deliciously deep voice have some thinking of him as a ‘disco Leonard Cohen’. His 2013 album debut – ‘Love in Arms’ – got rave reviews from NME, DIY, The Guardian and drew favorable comparisons to the work of Tom Waits and David Bowie. In his latest release, Gabriel Bruce moves seamlessly between musical genres – from disco to R&B, metal and grunge, effortlessly exchanging his drum machine for organ with no injustice done to lyrics drawing on Old Testament imagery for inspiration.
The musician’s extraordinary range of interests include taxidermy and one irology – the science and interpretation of dreams – and these, too, find their way into his music. His first single ‘Sleep Paralysis’ (2011), was released direct to vinyl and included a booklet of Dadaist poetry and the singer’s own drawings, quotations from French surrealist-poet Paul Éluard, and excerpts from medical studies on the phenomenon of sleep paralysis.
Photo: Gabriel Bruce Official Facebook page
His second studio album – ‘Come All Sufferers’ - is set to drop this May, coinciding with Orthodox Easter. The set examines millennial themes and ruminations on the Noah origin story - the place where human relations first began to fracture. It’s too soon to tell whether Easter is the most fitting metaphor for a crowd that’s been in a deep sleep these past three years, but this June 5th, Ukraine will be among the first to wake to the talent of Gabriel Bruce. Following his Kiev engagement, Bruce returns to London to perform with Florence and the Machine at the BST Hyde Park festival in July.
Don’t miss the chance to see Gabriel Bruce’s concert in Kiev before he comes back to UK!
When: June 5, 2016, 7pm
Where: Sentrum club (11 Shota Rustaveli str., Kiev)
Price: UAH 300