Music
Press
"A unique and exhilarating synthesis of pop, funk, progressive music and rock filtered through a skewed filter. Funny, cynical, touching and wonderfully wise. One of the great Buffalo originals." - P22/Atom SmashRecords - Richard Kegler
Gilbert Neal is an immediately likeable singer/songwriter. This musically multi-faceted CD is notable for its lyrical honesty and musical intensity.
The disc opens with one called “Jesus,” but it is hardly a church hymn. Instead, it includes the lines, “Who’s that man with the casual excuses? That’s me,” which makes it come off particularly confessional. “Aurora” is another good one. Over a cityscape description, its lyric tells the story of forbidden love. It is a little like a slicker Springsteen-ian ode, differentiated from The Boss by its layered vocal breakdown at one point.
Neal has an instantly appealing voice, which sounds like Stevie Wonder in many places. This naturally fine vocal instrument is utilized in a sincerely churchy way. Sonically, Drink The Beast With Me relies upon tight arrangements, colored by stacked vocals and appropriate organ fills.
This is the kind of standout album that ought to make you want to hear more from Gilbert Neal – and soon.
-Dan MacIntosh - Indie-Music.com
“Picture it: Billy Preston, Prince and Elvis Costello have a kid.... Neal's work is so honest...so TOTALLY what
this generation needs to hear. “ - Jolene Baller - WYRK Radio, Buffalo, NY
“North Carolina has given the musical world a rocker proficient at charming listeners with an acoustic jangle but also not afraid to branch out into other areas with a subtle professionalism...Neal’s stories sound like back porch soul searching in the Southwestern desert watching the sun dipping behind a jagged majestic mountain range...'Beast' plays in an almost conceptual fashion...”
Jacob Richardson - EOM Entertainment.com - EOM Entertainment
Discography
Drink The Beast With Me - 2006
Our Deepest Apathy - 2008
Photos
Bio
Gilbert Neal is originally from Buffalo, New York, and now lives near Chapel Hill, NC.
Neal's lyrics are sometimes cryptic, sometimes gauche, but always literate, respectful of the listener, and prescient in judgments of self and surroundings. Though Neal possesses a degree in vocal performance, his muse is mostly self-defined.
A multi-instrumentalist with a voice that's as versatile as they come, Neal writes all his own material, and performs the lion's share of instrumental backing on his debut recording, “Drink The Beast With Me”, as well as his new CD, "Our Deepest Apathy".
Neal's talents are in full bloom and his unique writing jibes perfectly with his versatile performances.
Links
