Gert Taberner
Fallen EP
(self-released)

New York folk rock/pop artist Gert Taberner’s new EP Fallen mines some soft singer-songwriter acoustic veins. He mans the acoustic guitar mainly to offer up his collection, with some well-placed musos behind him. “Back Some Day” is basically an acoustic-led little tune with Gert and Jaclyn Turville taking verses solo and then doubling here and there.  The plink of the plodding title track sees those well-placed harmonies of Turnville yet again, as Nick Babey’s laid back drumming comes in mid-way just about when you’re aching for something to start happening. The slide guitar work later with “ooh oh oh’s” brings the song to a solid end that’s hard to forget. “In Need” is fueled by strings and make what might be Gert’s most singable tune here. The lead guitar is loud and noisy in a slightly off-putting way that still works (if that makes any sense), and the song is a winner overall. “Places” ends the whole affair, a tune with the most swing and sway to any of these, with Taberner using the full range of his vocals very well. This is a really cool tune, all Tracy Chapman-meets-Damien Rice and all the players are in lock step with Taberner, making this by far the strongest track. Fallen is a nice snippet of what Gert Taberner is all about. There’s not so much variety in the sound, but you are certainly into one specific artist’s vision with this EP.

You can listen to the songs here.