Love Over Everything: Keeping it Real
A music review
Mid-January, while others shopped for birthday party loot at 5 Below, I’m trying to be helpful but not succeeding. I dislike shopping generally, and for someone I don’t know very well in particular. Would they prefer “cute” or “emo”? They wear Nikes but we have a budget. Gift cards are easier, but where do they shop? If you get a Target gift card will they be offended you didn’t get one from Kohl’s? Seeking the elusive authentic gift. Such were the conversations going on just outside my hearing when this catchy tune grabs my attention on the PA. Who, or what, is this? Nothing like exasperating boredom to keep you alert to a revelation. (Note to self!) Shazam brought up “Through the Hourglass” by a Gizmo Varillas, which I promptly found on YouTube. It had a fun Caribbean beat with decent lyrics about the passage of time; each moment is but a grain of sand “through the hourglass.” Perhaps it was telling me something about my current predicament? (Another note to self!) The vocals and whole vibe brought to mind Paul Simon. YouTube with its indefatigable capitalist algorithm suggested other songs and now I’m writing my first music review.
As a musician’s star rises, does their artistic integrity set? Shakira began a promising musical career as a kind of Latina “Alanis Morissette” grunge rocker, but then morphed into a belly dancing sex goddess. Far be it for my radical feminist self to criticize one of the most visible and highly paid musicians of all time, a woman no less, but I would wager that a Bruno Mars or Post Malone wouldn’t need to show half as much skin; in the case of Mr. Malone perhaps none would suffice. How much of that transformation was authentic or driven by the music industry’s demand for marketability and double standard towards women, we may never know. We want our musicians to be “real” not so much for their sake but our own: their “authenticity” affirms our own emotional experiences from listening to their ballads or bangers; if they are “for real,” so too ourselves. Otherwise it’s all a fraud, our feelings included. Being duped is such a buzz-kill.
However, Gizmo Varillas seems to be the real deal. His music speaks to my need for uplift, joy, and fun, which I think he genuinely embodies. I don’t know if he’s Christian, but with songs like “Love Over Everything,” “One People,” “Saving Grace,” and “Born Again,” you have to wonder. He was born to a Spanish father and English mother so…maybe? You can’t write songs like that if you’re a miserable atheistic wreck. His album “Out of Darkness” came out in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, and was an antidote for those dark times with songs like “Rise” and “Silver Lining.” When I was discerning my recent change of schools, “Burning Bridges” clearly spoke to me: “These are the days it’s our turn to shine, these are the days we needed most.” Now is a very acceptable time (2:Cor 6:2), after all.
Regardless of Varillas’ religious affiliations or lack thereof, he is a romantic close to my own heart. “Lonely Heart” from his 2018 “Dreaming of Better Days” is about a love long gone with an upbeat, catchy riff; a happy sad song if you can believe it. “Lights down Low” from the same album is a more straightforward love song, also with a catchy beat with Ed Sheeran vibes. However, his subject matter extends beyond the romantic and into the political. “The Truth Will Be Heard” is an encouraging anthem for all whose voices are actively silenced or ignored. “Losing You,” according to at least one Youtube comment, is a requiem for the Pulse nightclub shooting victims and anyone lost to violence borne of hate. At the same time, he is “Dreaming of Better Days.”
In a recent German-language interview, Varillas is a self-described “optimistic realist” whose music is “summery and confident,” a perfect antidote, in my opinion, to our dark times. A mix of soft rock, jazz, syncopated back beats, I do not exaggerate when I say I like all of his songs, some more than others, yes, but enough that I now have 4 of his CDs. The first track on his latest album, “World in Color,” indeed, calls us to “Follow the Sun,” and reminds us that “the road is long, who knows where it will take me” in “Crossroads.” Varillas suggests we need to have “Ojos Nuevos” to answer the question he poses in “Where is the Love.” He is “Still Holding On” while “Under the Weight” of the world’s troubles. He does, after all, see “The World in Colour.” To prove my point of his authenticity, Varillas says that the album is a result of him mourning the loss of his father, who recently passed at the relatively young age of 60. You can’t just make that up.
I suspect this album is hardly the “End of the Line” for Varillas. Although his music seems consigned to retail and video game soundtracks, he does appear to have a modest tour schedule, mostly in Europe, though making an appearance at the Austin City Limits Music Festival this October. I fully endorse this musician who, by all appearances, hasn’t compromised his creative principles for a greater market share. If anything, Varillas has proven there’s more than enough to go around. We just need to “Give a Little Love,” since it is a “beautiful day,” a time to celebrate “Freedom for a Change.” I hope you agree!