monoblogue music: Versal (self-titled EP)

Sometimes in life things occur in an order for a reason. A couple weeks back I had a free Saturday so I decided to address the backlog I had of records to review. And after going through two records which were outside my genre and very complex to the point of being a little bit overbearing, I sat down and listened to this six-song instrumental EP and really appreciated its simplicity.

That’s not to say the EP is one-dimensional at all. In fact, the six songs are all done via the efforts of Houston-based and Puerto Rican native musician Javier Velez, who uses Versal as a professional name, but they are layered in such a way that makes this collection an enjoyable listen and a respite – even if it, too, is outside my preferred genre. Some of the tracks, especially the opener Eternal, made me wish a Christian artist would write devotional lyrics to Versal’s music. I bet it would work.

If I really wanted to be nit-picky I would say that the second track, Flamenco en Culebra, is a touch too long – otherwise the songs fit rather neatly into the four-minute timeframe that works well for most music. But overall this is a very fine collection of songs that may appeal to a wide range of discerning listeners.

In reading a little bit on Velez, he claims to be something of a child prodigy who mastered five instruments by the age of 17 and picked up three more since. But his day job led him to the film making and visual world, making this EP something which was on his bucket list until he finally found time to complete it over the last couple years. There are actually two more songs he’s envisioning, but he wanted to get these out for some unknown reason.

Anyway, if the other two come out soon it will be a blessing – in the meantime I encourage you to enjoy the original six and listen for yourself. It would soothe the savage beast.