GYASI - Baby Blue EP (2023)

The joy of contributing to Israbox Music is that a variety of artists come your way that you`d never hear of otherwise. One such artist is Gyasi Heus who grew up in rural West Virginia and was raised by bohemian parents but now resides in Nashville and records under the name Gyasi (pronounced Jah-See).

His debut album `Pronounced Jah-See` was superb and a release that I said brought retro rock ‘n’ roll into the 21st Century. This Electric Warrior has a new single with three additional live cuts released this month in the shape of a four track extended play called the `Baby Blue` EP.

We open with the brand new song `Baby Blue` which is also the title track and it`s a cracker and could have been lifted from the guru of glitter Marc Bolan`s 1972 album `Slider` with tracks such as `Telegram Sam` and `Metal Guru`. It`s just over three minutes of retro seventies glam where the singer was ably abetted by Daru Jones on drums and Ricky Dover Jr. on bass. We have some scintillating guitar riffs towards the latter part of this slice of Hot Love! The title being a tribute to the late great Gene Vincent. There`s a much faster pace to `Cheap High` which has a kind of Hanoi Rocks vibe about this blistering version of this single released in 2021.

I felt there was a there was a Glitter band beat to `Tongue Tide` with its pounding drumbeat at its heart and intricately shared guitar chords. This is a thumping live version of this single from as far back as 2019. The final track `Sugar Mama` first came to light on Gyasi`s 2018 debut EP `Peacock Fantasies` and is more of a rolling driving rock blues nigh on jam trip. It becomes fairly trippy and psychedelic at times as it veers off in all sorts of musical nuances but never feels overly long as it weighs in at around the ten minute mark. The singer almost apes Robert Plant as he lets rip and showcases his skilful vocal abilities.

If you`ve never heard of Gyasi before then the `Baby Blue` EP will be a captivating introduction. As I said when I last reviewed this artist, don’t let this Cosmic Dancer`s fondness of outlandish costumes, platform shoes and love of all things from the golden age of UK glam cloud your judgement. This singer/guitarist/songwriter has the image, looks, licks, and moves but also the talent.