After three previous releases Gagi Petrovic returns with his album Unfold Yourself. On this new album he presents a personal story, in his own unique style.
Unfold Yourself is released as CD mastered by Jos Smolders in artwork by Rutger Zuydervelt based on photography by Gagi Petrovic and Ada Bania-Bekkers.
About Unfold Yourself
Unfold Yourself is a story about personal growth, about taking care of your own mental health.
It’s about an overwhelming darkness – seemingly endless. Giving yourself attention, trust, and time doesn’t make these moments easier, but inevitably transforms the volatility into something fresh, someone new.
Unfold Yourself is a reminder not the give up.
Reviews
Vital Weekly, Bauke van der Wal
This is a new name on a well-known label for me. Let’s see how and what. Gagi Petrovic is a music teacher and producer in the broadest sense of the word. The well-written info-sheet tells me he writes music for others, for performances (dance and theatre), creates electro-acoustic albums and performs as a musician and singer-songwriter. So yeah, he has an extensive orientation. But a sentence in the info makes me curious: ‘Conceptually, his music often covers themes revolving around oppression, isolation, destruction and what it means to be free.’ And there it touches on the main description of this album, “Unfold Yourself” is a story about personal growth, taking care of your own mental health, and a reminder not to give up.
The titles on the album are indeed the step taken when it comes to self-exploration and growth, being “Disrupt”, “Obstruct”, “Shatter”, “Rejuvenate”, “Illuminate”, “Erupt”, and “Arise”. A clearly described path, as you can see. And when it comes to the chosen sounds and patterns, it sort of fits. Where “Disrupt” is built from massive dark Moog-like tones, “Obstruct” has more sudden movements of a different origin and includes what seems to be – metallic percussion. “Shatter” has a rhythmic base and string manipulation, and during the 3:39 shortest track “, Rejuvenate”, minimal synths are played in combination with the sonar sound blip we already heard on track 2. For me: How parts of our past with which we struggle should remain part of who we’ve become.
“Illuminate”, with its 15 minutes, is the most intriguing track because of its sounds. Light, high pitched initially, slowly settling in with a bowed guitar and then gradually turning into a beautiful ambient structure/composition. “Erupt” is kinda loud in a way, with sudden breaks in sound and harsh crossovers; it’s like Gagi wants to describe the moment of standing up after meditation, Screaming ‘I’m alive!’. The final track, “Arise”, is all about harmonics, harmonization of who we are and what we’ve become. The guitar melody at the end breaks the mood for me, but having said that, it’s not an album about who I have become. Another lovely release by our favourite little Amsterdam label. (BW)
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Luminous Dash, Patrick Bruneel
De Nederlander Gagi Petrovic is een graag geziene gast bij Moving Furniture. Een split met Matthijs Kouw, twee solo-albums en eerder, op een ander label, een plaat met Zeno Van Den Broek, die eigenlijk net zo goed ook op hetzelfde label had kunnen uitkomen gezien het in dezelfde lijn ligt.
Dat is ambient vermengd met drones, glitch en experiment en hoe recenter het werk van Petrovic, hoe duidelijker het ook wordt dat hij verhalen wil vertellen, al is zijn muziek instrumentaal.
Unfold Yourself vertelt een heel persoonlijk verhaal. Het gaat over de strijd tegen een burn-out en hoe Petrovic traag maar gestaag zichzelf terugvond en opnieuw uitvond. Het gaat over zorg dragen voor de eigen mentale gezondheid en daar de nodige rust en tijd voor nemen zonder ooit op te geven.
Van Disrupt tot en naar Arise gaat het en dat is duidelijk te merken aan de klanken die onze oren strelen.
Waar het bij het begin van het album heel donker klinkt, spaarzaam ook meestal op een sporadische woede-uitbarsting na, duiken er stilaan lichtjes op. Klanken die hoop geven maar het is nog pril, stuikt nog wel eens in elkaar en wordt weer donker zwart. Naar het einde toe wordt het vrolijker, bijna dansbaar zelfs, met beats die de terugkeer van de mens Petrovic inluiden.
Gedaan met die burn-out en het zwartkijken, leven moeten we. Genieten zelfs. En dat laatste is ook wat we bij het beluisteren van dit groeiproces ervaren.
CD limited to 200 copies or digital available in our webshop
Or find the album in your preferred streaming service here: https://orcd.co/gagi-petrovic_unfold-yourself
Gagi Petrovic
Gagi Petrovic is a composer, performer, producer, and teacher of music. He mainly works in performative settings, with a versatile taste and diverse expertise. He writes pieces and songs with elements that are acoustic and electronic, intense and intimate, which are something between odd and familiar. The use of technology often plays a big role in his creative process, as well as his preference to keep pushing music forward. As a composer, he mostly works in an autonomous fashion. He has received commissions from organizations such as Gaudeamus, Fringe Festival, Dansmakers Amsterdam, Rewire, Theater Rotterdam and GRIP, to write for soloist, ensembles, theatre and contemporary dance. He releases electro-acoustic albums and performs his own works with his custom-built instrument GEST and as a singer-songwriter. Frequently, he produces music for other media too, such as podcasts, documentary and video art.
Aesthetically, his work balances in the grey area of contemporary composition, digital electronics and alternative pop. Conceptually, his music often covers themes revolving around oppression, isolation, destruction and what it means to be free. He has a special interest in how music moves us both physically and mentally; how such abstract languages enable us to reflect on a sense of reality, escape it or even question it.
https://www.15questions.net/interview/gagi-petrovic-talks-sound/page-1/
