Seneko
TRUE DIMENSION EP
Self-Release
Bandwagonesque Alt. Country For a 5th Dimension Generation.
Quite a few times this year my trusty ‘shuffle button’ on the i-phone has discovered some truly excellent gems for me to review; and this EP from Connecticuttian (?) Stan ‘Seneko’ Olshefski is yet another.
It came to me from a trusted PR a few months ago; but family events meant it didn’t get played and stayed hidden on the computer database until last Friday night as I drove home from work after midnight and the super-lush harmonies and jingly-jangly guitars of track #2 Pierced Lip Smile lit up the bitter cold night air like a firework display. As I discretely peeked at the stereo display I half expected to see the name TEENAGE FANCLUB but saw SENEKO instead; and then pressed ‘play full album’…..and the journey home flew by.
The title track True Dimension actually opens the 6 track EP and is every inch the delight that the other (second) track is; with a breathy, multi-layered vocal and a backing band that is so cool you need Wayfarers on to listen.
You To Save Me immediately sounds deeper and darker than the previous two songs; but fits in alongside them perfectly and when you eventually bypass the spectacular Pettyesque flavoured geetars and river deep harmonies to actually listen to the lyrics you will fall in love with this singer-songwriter like I did; the guy can really, really write a song!
Slightly quirky and more than a bit left of centre the Mariachi style My Little Curioso made me smile like a Cheshire Cat every time I’ve played it. Think Jonathan Richman fronting The Jayhawks on the Letterman Show…..or something like that.
This is followed by another sweet Teenage Fanclub type Indie-Pop meets Alt. Country slice of musical perfection called Mind The Violets; and by this stage of the proceedings all of your worries will have drifted away and you will be imagining sitting in a field making daisy chains with the one you love sitting beside you.
Then of course we have track #6 Take Me Indigo; the final track and bizarrely my favourite song here. A touch like You Take Me, it’s slower and deeper than the rest but Seneko’s warm and velvety voice coupled to the multi-layered harmonies, a heart-stopping bass; voluptuous keyboards and guitar playing so sweet you will find tears running down your cheeks and a smile a mile wide across your mouth as you re-live the salad days of your youth.
This is only Olshefski’s second EP under the guise of Seneko, but is the sound of an immense talent waiting to burst forth unto the world; and if I have anything to do with it he will be my ‘one to watch’ in 2018…….you heard it here first.
Released 13th October 2017
https://www.facebook.com/senekomusic/
The Rocking Magpie 