Antun Opic
Album: Shovel My Coal
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 4
Website: http://www.antunopic.com

Antun Opic, a singer songwriter with roots in Germany and Croatia, a performer who formally toured in a punk cabaret group ("Strom & Wasser") and an EP "Shovel My Coal" that defies categorisation, mixing World Music, Blues, Jazz, Rock and Folk into an amalgam that burns bright.

Four songs, each act out like plays, Denizens of the dark thrust in the spotlight to shock, horror for effect perhaps; the type of stories you read in the popular press.

"Shovel My Coal" exploitation, forced dependency using others "You'll never play no starring role, I won't grant you parole, you'll never reach your goal, cause you're busy shovelling my coal" as Sax, Trombone and Flugelhorn add delicious textures.

Heavy rock riffs kick "The Journalist" off, a tale of the seedy side of the press, "I'm a saint... I'm a filter of the truth... I am God Yeah Yeah", Antun paints perfect pictures in your head. Bluesy breaks and intimate almost whispered confessions add to the promise of being kept out the papers if you spill the beans.

"Hide & Seek" takes on a circus feel. A sinister circus! The Stephen King take on a childhood game "Come on out wherever you are....I'll cut you a nice scar" whilst a tuba bumps the game along and a clarinet heightens the tension.

Out of the depravity and debauchery the storm clouds break, the sun shines through as "Come With Me" is a jazzy joy, light and fluffy, every note counted and savoured. It's a deception though, seduction, abduction, the perfect promise that lures.

Antun describes the characters he creates as "People you really wouldn't want to know".

Ain't that the truth?

To close Antun Opic, "Shovel My Coal" takes over where Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies" left off.

Ian Cripps