Christophe Goze - Slow (2022)

Guitarist, writer and producer Christophe Goze can already look back on twelve solo albums and his thirst is far from quenched. Only recently I reviewed his album Soul To Soul, released this year, and already he surprises us with a new album.

The album is called Slow and this title is also the program. Stylistically the album can be classified in many areas, lounge, chill, smooth jazz & even pop. All fourteen pieces have one thing in common, they are slow and relaxing. Predominantly songs there are also instrumental interludes, more about that later.

The album opens with the areal Dreams & Promises featuring singer Cathy Battistessa. A dreamy song that makes you forget the worries of everyday life and takes you to the dreamscape of oblivion. The melancholic ballad She Said presents vocalist Odis Palmer. Actually a voice you'd expect to hear in R&B or hip hop, Odis believably brings emotion across.

Take Me Home is the second song by Odis Palmer that knows how to convince. But this is not by chance due to the impressive music of Christophe Goze, who perfectly emphasizes the vocal performance.

Coeur Grenadine was originally composed by French singer Laurent Voulzy, who comes from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and already for this reason is inspired by a large portion of tropical atmosphere. The lyrics of this love song written by Alain Souchon have the sweetness of a fruit of the tropics when you eat them ripe for harvest directly from the field. Christophe Goze has taken on this vocal gem with all his genius and transports it to the present time enriched with the Tablas sounds of Laurent Facheux.

Hero reunites us anew with the tender-leaved voice of Cathy Battistessa. The song reveals the longing for the heroic figure in which all desires and ideas unite, but which remain so unfulfilled. With Je ne t'oublierai jamais (I will never forget you) Christophe Goze joins the French vocal art of such chansonniers as Charles Aznavour or Gilbert Bécaud. One is amazed at the range of his creativity.

The song Little Boy makes pensive. The lyric addresses a little boy with an invitation not to be afraid, because happiness and freedom would also be waiting for him. What kind of world do we live in where children need this encouragement.

Hold Me Now, originally from 2004, could also be easily set earlier, because the same fire lives in it as in Peter Gabriel's or Phil Collins' vocal greatness when they were lead singer of the group Genesis.

The French chanson Traces de Toi has a more modern habitus compared to Je ne t'oublierai jamais. The song was written in 1986 by Alain Chamfort & Didier Golemanas. Christophe Goze, who grew up in Paris, processes in this song Alain Chamfort's influence on his juvenal developement.

So beautiful which is from Christophe's album Dot (2020) pays homage with breathed words to the beauty of the fair femininity. I Got You was originally released on his album Turning Inside (2006). According to his own words, it is his attempt to unite jazz with hip hop, down tempo and lounge.

Love is the title song of the same named album from 2014. I don't know what to do with the Turkish-sounding text. Ce Que Tu Veux is the second track from the album Turning Inside (2006). Embedded in a grooving rhythm, a French slogan hypnotizes the uninitiated listener. Final tune is an extended version of the song Hero.

Slow is an interesting collection of selected songs that Christophe Goze had already released. The range is huge and illustrates Goze's artistic diversity. It also reveals a little bit about the background, roots and development of this extremely variable musician.