Although singer and pianist Gordon Roqué was born on a lush island in the Philippines, his spiritual piano melodies found on his new album Seahorses are a fusion of American pop and jazz. 
When first listening to the opening of this album, it is easy to fall for Roqué’s gentle piano chords brushed with the bell-like accompaniment of xylophone. The slow vibrato and warm timbre of his voice are without a doubt pretty.
However, after the suaveness of the first few jazzy numbers wears off, Roqué leaves a hollowness. Though he likes to be a storyteller playing around with religious themes, songs like “The Devil Played”, “Up to You” and “Pale Sunshine” all start to drag. If only he could toss in a number in double time to contrast the sonorous songs that make up this album. The closest he gets to a a faster number is “Fear”, which just plays with more urgency than the other songs.
At least by “Shadows Dance” he starts to introduce some more variety and changes in the album. On this song, a soft brush on the drums give the nostalgic prom dance feel. “Mr. Stranger” has a gypsy-esque theme, making it one of the more intriguing tracks.
Roqué says that “Coral Sky” is the “epicenter” of his album and that “it is this album’s template and primer, and it holds its soul.” Now, while it is true that the song does carry many of the slowly vibrato vocals and lush piano chords prevalent on nearly all the tracks, this song actually breaks away from the almost too structured form used on so many of the other songs and introduces some programmed beats, which seem odd with the backdrop of all the other acoustic melodies.
The lack of variance in music could be more forgivable if Roqué’s lyrics were stronger. Often after he clearly uses “we” in a sentence, he immediately re-specifies, “you and me” as though he were unsure how to properly end the phrase.
Regardless, Roqué is a beautiful piano player and he does show some potential on Seahorses. He just needs to work on expressing his thoughts in a way that doesn’t become stale. For now, this release gives a decent taste of his classical pop sounds.
Tracklisting:
01. The Boy in the Room
02. Villain
03. The Devil Played
04. Up to You
05. Pale Sunshine
06. Shadows Dance
07. Tears in Savannah
08. Coral Sky
09. Fear
10. Mr. Stranger
11. Confession
Gordon Roque: website | myspace
Written by: Bethany
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