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Well this is certainly different. Imagine if the Scissor Sisters recorded an album of Marilyn Manson songs and you might be close to the vibe of the groovy title track.
Or possibly scarred for life. One or t'other. Then there are the songs where things get slowed right down and it borders on late period Depeche Mode.
But just when you think you're getting comfortable, Gene-Manuel and collaborator Michael Morgan throw you a torch song curveball like "8 (Different Ways)" and you have to throw your recently formed conceptions right out of the window.
Then you get hit by some scuzzed up indie-glam rock on "C'mon (Fully Loaded)" and you start to wonder how it can all be the work of one person. Finally, as if to confirm the madness of what had gone before, things end up with a squalling cover of the Kate Bush song "Under The Ivy".
It's a mad variety show of an album and to be commended for that. So, if you suffer from multiple personality disorders, and are tired from constantly changing records, then this is for you.
- www.zeitgeist-scot.co.uk
Gene-Manuel is an odd, but persuasive new voice. His debut begins with the downright funky and catchy title track.
"Countless Crowds" is a song that exposes the singer's strong voice. It's a haunting almost-ballad with a soulful slant.
"8(Different Ways)" is a blue-tinted song resting on a simple melody. Gene-Manuel's vocal is gorgeously pleading and guest Regina's passages are striking.
"Forgotten" has a touch of gospel at the beginning, but soon turns into glam rock. It's further proof that Gene-Manuel is hard to pinpoint musically. He uses a host of influences and makes them his own.
The closing track is a cover of Kate Bush's b-side "Under The Ivy" done in an impressive fashion.
Gene-Manuel's made a record with something for nearly everyone.
Review by Anna Maria Stjarnell - CollectedSounds.com
Great mix of genres in each track. The production quality excels expectation in alt/rock.
Alternative seems to be the major genre and works well with rock/pop beats. There is slight familiarity especially in the vocals but originality is well expressed.
Review by Bert Gagnon - Neon Productions Radio
I think Sophisticated Kink is a special album. I had never heard of Gene-Manuel, but now I do, and it is a pleasant acquaintance. Pleasant is perhaps not the right word. It is an extraordinary acquaintance. Why extraordinary? Listen to the music on this CD and you will know. Music with power and feeling.
A good song is the first track, “Sophisticated Kink”. Nice bass lines at the start and the end of the song. Also, the forcing drums take you and you will listen to it. Like the other songs, there is a dynamic difference in the songs itself. You don’t expect that and that’s why the songs are exciting.
Review by Jan Nederveen
- Radio Heerde (Netherlands)
Discography
Sophisticated Kink - Debut CD
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Bio
Singer-songwriter Gene-Manuel describes his music in the following manner: “If you were to take a huge, imaginary blender, pour in some pop, rock, folk, alternative, lots of guitars, lots of vocal harmonies, some broken pieces of Kate Bush's The Dreaming CD and hit the PULVERIZE button, the resulting concoction would be the music found on Sophisticated Kink”
Working alongside musical partner Michael Morgan, the two went into the studio with one credo in mind: to make music they wanted to listen to, without the confines of any particular genre or any pre-conceived commercial agenda. This freed them to create music for the sake of creating. The resulting disc is a mélange that takes the listener through the thumping, guitar-driven soundscape of the title track, shoots them into orbit for the electronica-tinged and haunting “8 [Different Ways], then throws them into a mosh-pit for the rock-fueled “C’Mon [Fully Loaded] and ultimately settling them down nice and easy with the acoustic beauty of “Something I’ve Always Wanted”.
Along for the ride are the vestiges of Gene-Manuel’s musical muses such as Kate Bush, Paula Cole and Sophie B. Hawkins. Gene-Manuel now joins the rank of such independent artists that truly listen to their inner voice and lets that voice guide them through the creative process.
Gene-Manuel has just finished writing for his next solo effort with a tentative recording start date of November 2007. The Not Exactly Belonging will see a slight departure of sorts since it is heavily acoustic guitar driven. The songs also deal with darker and more personal subject matter.
Gene-Manuel’s goal always remains the same: to keep writing and performing un-compromised, thought-provoking music with a twist. Music that not only moves the spirit, but causes and involuntary bodily jerk every now and again . . . in a good way of course.
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