The First Pure DSD 256 Album from Carmen Gomes Inc.

Bluesy May is not only the latest album from Carmen Gomes Inc. but it is the first that features the band recorded in Pure DSD 256.

Frans & Peter from Sound Liaison talk about the benefits of this approach to recording: “We would like to thank the team at NativeDSD for challenging us to produce in the Pure DSD format. This approach opens up new insights and ways to achieve an even higher level of recording quality, bringing us, and the listener, closer to the original source: the musicians in the studio.” 

From the slow, dark shuffle of ‘No Good Man’, to the tender, romantic glow of ‘Darker Still’, celebrating the Scandinavian Mørke Time tradition, this album unfolds a passage through emotion and time. Despite the variety of styles and stories, the album presents it selves with remarkable cohesion, each track a vital thread in its sonic arc.

These musicians have reached a point where there is nothing left to prove. They no longer perform, they become the music, responding instinctively to one another and to the sound of the room itself.

Listen to Bert Kamsteeg’s introduction on ‘Comes Love’: he inhabits the drum kit as if seven percussionists were conversing through one voice, filling the acoustic space with color and movement. Or to Folker Tettero’s guitar replies on ‘No Good Man’: every note chosen with care, each phrase suggesting more than it states. Then there is Peter Bjørnild’s line on ‘Heard It All Before’, never intruding on the melody, yet always anchoring the song with quiet authority, stepping forward only when the space invites him.

And finally, the heart of the band, Carmen Gomes herself. Her phrasing, her command of tone and emotion, have reached a rare level of mastery. Every word, every melodic contour seems born from years of reflection and lived experience. Carmen possesses an intuitive understanding of how much – or how little – is needed to express the true feeling of a song. Though at times, as in ‘Long Lost Love’, the emotion required seems almost more than even she can bear.

Carmen Gomes Inc. 
Carmen Gomes, Vocals
Folker Tettero, Guitar
Peter Bjørnild, Double Bass
Bert Kamsteeg, Drums