Does the world need another oddball musician? The question surely should be whether there will ever be enough oddball musicians in the world for they are the antidote to the fame seekers and charlatans that normally seek our attention and approval. Without doubt an oddball, Cyrus Gabrysch attempts to grab our attentions with his debut album "Heart of Wine".
It's a successful attempt as well. With a croaking voice that would do a Tom Waits impersonator proud, he shows himself to be a fine storyteller as weaves his way through the shadows of life. Interestingly, he only really sounds like Tom Waits on the CD. The review copy also came with a vinyl version of the album and on that most glorious of sound reproduction formats, his voice sounds much warmer and rounder, more like Chris DeBurgh in fact. That might sound like a bit of a wanton assault on Mr Gabrysch's musical credibility but that's the way it was! Fortunately Mr Gabrysch's songs far exceed the Irish crooner's norm. "Promise to Jemima" turns out to closely reflect the warm sentimentality you would expect of the aforementioned Tom Waits. "Il Fiato Dolce Della Norte" suggests Mr Gabrysch has a background in musical theatre with pronounced jazzy overtones and, not content to stick with one genre, the sad tale of life on "Rattlesnake Row" directs us back towards the folk/country side of things.
This is a good sounding album (notwithstanding the differences in Cyrus Gabrysch's vocal sound between the vinyl and compact disc versions) that shows a desire to experiment and, more importantly, quality musicianship throughout. Nice one!