Gospel in the Club: Praises to God and the Night for the New Millennium.
It’s hardly surprising that they are said to have met on a film set: vocalist Jacob Lusk, composer Ari Balouzian and filmmaker Ryan Hope as Gabriels create immersive music that takes its audience on a journey that’s almost cinematically grandiose. It starts right away with the reduced entry in the intro to “Offering” with a double bass straight outta New Orleans, more strings step in, Lusk climbs into falsetto, a choir joins him, suddenly we end up in a call-and-response Games and the sun rises and shines down on us all.
Holy fuck, what’s going on here? Gabriels are a phenomenon, traditional, but without being too retro, without starting a musical costume party. No, their sound is firmly anchored in the history of soul, in Lusk’s embrace of gospel, and yes, Dixieland jazz as well, but is utterly present. Also, but not only because of the synthesizer or the samples, which sometimes shine through only briefly, sometimes, like on “The Blind”, form the framework of the song. No, they are also Lusk’s tales of queer love and desire, loss or substance abuse. Church choir themes are not. But maybe that’s why the transcendent outfit suits them so well, after all, Jesus also said something about “the last will be first”, right?
Between opera aria and gospel choir
Since the release of their 2021 debut EP Love And Hate In A Different Time, the trio have managed to garner fans such as Elton John and BBC music journalist legend Annie Mac. This is mainly due to the incredible performance of singer Lusk, who took part in “American Idol”, the US model for “DSDS”, in the early 1900s. Severely traumatized by the manipulative practices of the talent show, he went back to his roots and worked as a gospel choir director, among other things – which brought him and his current bandmates together when they were looking for a choir for filming in Los Angeles.
Inspired by Lusk’s vocal power somewhere between opera aria and gospel choir, his performance and his musical talent, they founded Gabriels. Lusk’s vocals, songwriting and performance are framed by Hope’s and Balouzian’s cinematic compositions, which borrow elements from jazz ballads, the deep melancholy of blues, the drama of opera, the poignancy of electronic music and hip-hop, and the addictive appeal of jazz Pop.
So much should be said: Those who value minimalism are not in the right place here. The first half of this spectacular debut was released last year because, as he told the BBC, Lusk “couldn’t wait”. ANGELS & QUEENS keeps the promise of a contemporary update of classic gospel and works just as well as a postmodern, queer sermon as in a house mix in a club at peak time. It’s also a kind of church, after all. And Lusk, who crossed tuxedo with a kind of eccentric bishop’s cloak at her Glastonbury appearance, is the rousing preacher, whose voice takes us to the highest heights (“Offering”, “Taboo”) and deepest depths, as on the trance-like album highlight “Glory “.