Antun Opic

Swagger. The sound in your head and when you say it, is all you need; there’s no need to go to the dictionary to look it up. And it’s a word that trips of the tongue as you listen of this EP from German/Croatian singer/songwriter Antun Opic. This doesn’t mean this low slung guitars, bullet belts and sleazy riffs mind, far from it. This is folk, jazz, classical, blues and pop all performed with absolute confidence: take it or leave it!

Opening with the title track he’s in a sort of jaunty flamenco/Cajun strum and sing mode, with the occasional blast of brass. This is contrasted by The Journalist which with a semi-spoken vocal, is a darker, weightier song, with some interesting rock guitar infusions.

With Hide and Seek the listener is lulled with a Spanish guitar intro that soon switches to something altogether sleazier. The oompah brass and throaty, spoken vocals briefly brings to mind the musical Cabaret, the gloom of that small stage and performers strutting their stuff. Finally, Come With Me closes the EP, a dreamy jazz/blues number that just invites you to pour yourself a bourbon at the end of the day, or while you’re sitting at the end of a bar.

There’s an assurance of will and way in this EP that just bowls over the listener. It may not all work, the vocals in particular are sometimes quite grating, almost trying too hard. And there are times when it sounds a bit busy and congested. Nevertheless, this is an interesting EP and thankfully it’s not just a technical experiment in ramming different genres together to see what happens, some of this does get beneath the skin.