Gabriel Moreno - Nights in the Belly of Bohemia

  by Steev Burgess

published: 17 / 4 / 2025

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Review

With certain albums, the colours of the sleeve art give a clue to what kind of emotions are contained within. Bob Dylan's ‘Blood on the Tracks’ and Nick Cave's ‘The Boatman's Call’ stand like blood brothers in their heartbreak and claret, and this album by Gabriel Moreno is bathed in blue and melancholy moonlight. This is an unusual album, as it is released alongside a book of the same name, that acts as the lyric sheet for the album's 10 songs, preceded by nearly 50 poems. Gone are perhaps the hedonistic abandon of Gabriel's Clerkenwell nights that gave rise to songs such as ‘Nosediving into the Night’, and also the songs that danced determinedly in the kitchen of a Covid lockdown on ‘The Year of the Rat’ . On this album and in this book, Moreno gives the poetic account of a troubadour's musings while living the life of a full time musician on the road for a two year tour, reflected in a rippled speigelglass by the melancholy light of a blue moon. The album opens with ‘Edge of a Dream’, which sits on the borders of truth and fantasy with Moreno's Spanish guitar couched in the atmospheric strings, bass and piano of Richard Moore. ‘Lightning Bolt’ is one of the reflective sing-alongs that have become Gabriel's speciality, with Dave Burns and Mike Collins completing the tapestry of the night. The title track ‘Bohemia’ is next up, and is something of a statement song for those living the bohemian life in an increasingly regimented time. Much of the album deals with how night's dreams and desires stand exposed in the cold light of day. It's a more up-tempo number, with Pablo Campos's percussion moving the gypsy-folk sounding track along. Moreno sings of lost friends, broken phones and places where " the talk is heavy and I'm covered in smoke," and also proclaims, " I know you've got a full time job ut I live in a full-time storm". ‘Castles’, a tender track co-written with Ty Watling, is almost a letter of mild regret, apology and explanation to a son, for having little of material value to pass on, because "typewriters and turntables bore truths that once kept me alive." ‘Vertigo’ finds the Moreno mind waltzing with a glass of Rose as time fizzles away and leaves him asking, "Tomorrow when everyone has gone will you still think I gave it my best?" ‘Mortified Too’, not for the first time with Gabriel, settles into a Leonard Cohen guitar chop, and questioning of and reflecting on life decisions and loves lost. ‘Halfway House’ sees Pablo Yupton and the aforementioned Campos create a seductive rhythm to great effect, with Moreno addressing identity issues: "Please don't waste my time with names/You can call me they and perhaps we shall end up at my place." There is quiet humour and lines that only he would come up with such as "I like it when you stray, it's like the whole of Peckham finally found its way." The last three songs see Moreno stand alone with his guitar. ‘When You Kill the Thing You Love’ is another Cohen-esque take on Oscar Wilde's question set partly at least, on the singers native Gibraltar. ‘Lovers and Dreamers’ is reminiscent of 60's Peter Sarstead in it's cosmopolitan settings that include Rome and Monmartre. It summons the spirit of the equally exotic American Willy Deville, and laments the loss of lovers, dreamers, dancers and other denizens of global bohemia, lost to the regular life. ‘Churn Out Gold’ continues the theme until the death, but with a jaunty "da da da da dum" punctuating Moreno's usual poeticising of his fate, with his unique turn of phrase. All in all, this album seems to chart a journey of a dreamer, living the life of the heart with the gravity of reality making life difficult for a travelling troubadour but finding a song to move to, none the less. One distant day, scholars of the modern, urban folk scene of London will be able to chart the motivations and fortunes of this singer, just by listening to his albums, without ever knowing the carefully concealed identities of his muses, which some of us on the scene may only guess at.

Track Listing:-

1 Edge Of A Dream
2 Lightning Bolt
3 Bohemia
4 Castles
5 Vertigo
6 Mortified Too
7 Half Way House
8 When You Kill The One You Love
9 Lovers, Dreamers
10 Churn Out Gold

Band Links:-

https://www.gabrielmoreno.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/quiveringpoet
https://x.com/loveandecadence
https://www.instagram.com/gabrielangel

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