Gabby Young and Other Animals – We’re In This Together

Fortune favours those who can recognise trends.

Trend Nr.1: Soulful (but white) female vocalists

Ever since Amy Winehouse started the ball rolling with her unbearable caterwauling there has followed a tiresome procession of young British ladies making dull music which is somehow considered edgy and artistically superior to their American counterparts because it harkens in some vague way back to the 60’s, or at least Mark Ronson (whoever he is). Corporate chanteuses such as Duffy, Adele, Joss Stone, Paloma Faith, Pixie Lott (and so on) are soulful in the same way that Avril Lavigne was ‘rock’ and virtually indistinguishable from one another.

Gabby Young is herself young, English and white. What’s more she has a rich, deep voice which could hold its own against any of the previously mentioned ladies (yes, even Avril). At her most manic she is reminiscent of The Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer, and at her most slow and sultry she calls to mind Extraordinary Machine-era Fiona Apple. Refreshingly though, Gabby takes her musical cues from a few generations before the over-exploited 60’s, at the heart of her music is some well-placed accordion and a strong brass section. It wouldn’t quite work as pure jive music: the tunes are driven by vocals, not by the downbeat, and are prone to taking precisely executed stops and starts. But there is an undeniable influence here, reminiscent of ‘Frank’s Wild Years’-era Tom Waits in its piano flourishes and unconventional muffled percussion. Which brings us swiftly on to…

Trend Nr.2: Swing/Jive/Flappers/1920’s/Cabaret/Blitz Parties/old that cool ‘old’ stuff

Folks who took up the trombone in secondary school and somehow persevered with such a decidedly unsexy instrument must be congratulating themselves no end these days. The pages of the Timeout ‘Alternative Nightlife’ section are filled with opportunities for an enterprising young trombonist with adequate moxie to rip if up at the 100 Club on Mondays, the Black Cotton Club on Fridays and the Blitz Party on Saturdays. Gabby has collected herself a fine medley of brass and keys and for the first handful of tracks of the album they whip up a storm that would have any old timer dancing the Charleston down to the Savoy.

When the aforementioned trombonist tires of all the beads and glamour of a time when Keynes were things used to help people walk (canes, get it?) then there is another vibrant refuge for brass just round the corner:

Trend Nr.3: Gypsy/Balkan Brass Band/And Western equivalents such as Beirut and Gogol Bordello

Thanks to the ever-expanding reaches of the European Union London has been blessed with an influx of beautiful people to whom the word ‘Mesecina’ is not a problem that can be solved with a napkin (“Messy chin”, get it?). So it is no surprise that on the tracks which are driven by accordion and trumpet Gabby and her Animals appropriate a Balkan flavour to complement the ramshackle chants of ‘Who’s House Are You In?’ and ‘Ask Me A Question’. It is a confident musical turn in an album which establishes itself so clearly as one thing (e.g. the contemporary pop appropriation of swing music), before demonstrating a varied hand of tone and emotion.

The centre of the album is the title track ‘We’re In This Together’. Perhaps the simplest track of the whole bunch, and also the most reliant on Gabby’s voice to succeed, backed with light guitar, percussion and mournful squeeze-box and trumpet. Here is where Gabby demonstrates that she can use her lungs delicately as well as forcefully.

Gabby has been peddling this album to fans and concert-goers for more than a year prior to its formal release, and often it does have the feel of a musical CV with the band trying to summarise all of their relevant experience on one meandering album. There are some clear highlights, ‘We’re in this Together’, ‘Who’s House’ and ‘Sour’, and a few tracks which capture neither the emotion nor energy of their brethren, notably the D.O.A. ‘Too Young to Die’. On the whole though Gabby Young, much like Florence and the Machine before her, manages to twist the banal British Pop formula in a refreshing direction, and for that her presence is welcome, and her continued participation encouraged.