The Bad Egg – A Night in Gale (2021)
The emotional rollercoaster of the last year and a half has been packed into the rock-blues-funk flow of A Night in Gale by The Bad Egg. From dark lyrics to bittersweet tones wrapped around a multitude of rock stylings, the EP is complex, intimate and ground-breaking. While each track is a picture on its own with a unique perspective, they come together
Written mostly during lockdown, the artists involved in the EP never met but achieved an intimacy that unites the tracks in a single vision. While combining their talents, they bring their passion for musical experimentation to a splash of different genres. Featuring Luana Jil, Dušan Prusák and Rolf Bürgis, the EP is one that you are not going to forget any time soon.
The EP opens with the rolling thunder of ‘Nightingale’. As the thunder rolls into the soundscape, a gentle guitar line tickles your ears. There is a wonderful expansive feeling to the guitar line as it reaches out into the ether. The soft rock vocals breathe against your ears with a delicate tenderness that draws you close for an intimate feeling. The melody takes a turn for a pulsing rock tone that soars through you and draws you into the heart of a storm. The lyrics draw on the imagery of a nightingale to bring the messaging of the track to life.
‘Set Me On Fire (Remastered)’ has a bluesy feeling to the rock tones that sway through you and get your head moving to the rhythm. There is a great pounding beat that gets your foot tapping while the vocals wrap a dark shawl of shadows around your shoulders. The lyrics bring an explosive unleashing of negative emotions to your ears in the most melodic way. There is a seriously addictive vibe to the vocals on this track. He brings a push and pull to his performance that perfectly reflects the containment and unleashing of the lyrics.
‘Interlude’ features both Jil and Prusák bringing a completely different vibe to the track. The lighter feeling of the music is a great break after the darkness of the last track. As the music twirls around you with waltzing ease, the lyrics dive into love. There is a really interesting edge to the track that fills you with the softness of love and affection while questioning this at the same time. The different vocals add to this contrasting sense while rising together for a truly stunning single.
The EP takes a fun and lively turn with ‘Backspin’ and its popping tones. There is a rather heavy dash of funk woven into this track that gets your body moving to the sound. The track beings a splash of colours to your senses that is a delightful break from the rest of the EP. While there is a fun and lively feeling to this track, there is a touch of sadness in the lyrics. It continues the complex arrangement of the tracks and showcases the versatility and musical prowess of The Bad Egg. He carefully crafts light feelings into regrets and gets you to have a blast to it all.
‘How Dare You’ warbles to life like rain pattering on a slow-moving river. This turns into a rolling flow of music and vocals that instantly make you want to sing along. The sombre feeling to the vocals is amazing as it weaves over the layered performance. There is an almost whispering feeling to the vocals that rises like the mists off a waterfall. As the guitar flies out into the atmosphere, the vocals pull you back to the ground. The lyrics are well worth a listen to as they get you thinking while filling you with the emotions of the track.
The EP comes to an end with the scratching opening of ‘Blind Evolution’. The deep tones that vibrate through the soundscape thrum in your chest while the stings rise for a mournful call. The static resting over the track gives it an almost dystopian feeling like the vocals are the last transmission in a post-apocalyptic world. This feeling is increased by the noise rock feeling of the music as the song progresses. This dark sonic world breaks for a ray of sun later in the track before everything collapses around you again. This is potentially the most interesting track on the EP because it fills you with a sense of unease while touching on something that could easily come to fruition.
The Bad Egg flies across musical genres defying all boundaries through the six extremely different tracks of A Night in Gale. Each song has a completely different feeling showcasing his versatility and ability to draw on the styles of his collaborators. From slow-moving rivers of music to waltzing light and dark industrial tones, he keeps you guessing while making you think.
Find out more about The Bad Egg on his website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
