Gibbz - Oh My God

Gibbz
Oh My God EP
2016
Spotify

When the new EP from New York synthpop artist begins it is hard to immediately buy in. The beginning of his songs seem to be his biggest weakness, He knows where he wants to go but doesn't always know how to make that first step. What is so crazy about this is the low expectations make each track better and better. Lead single "Oh My God" starts like some kind of basic drum machine beat with some singing over it, but then the horns, the build, the payoff, it really is something pretty magical. The track itself is sensual and smooth but has just enough pop appeal to keep it from drifting into some kind of slow jam territory. The next track however "Keep Dancing" ditches the moodiness for a more sunny approach, but the track is to thin and is missing any real low end to make it a true dance track. Oh My God is far more stripped down than Gibbz's other work, despite perhaps "No More", and the focus is shifted from production towards actual song writing. Gibbz began his career as a sound engineer and since has really worked to get this project going. A successful tour supporting Dragonette however means that Gibbz will be heading out in 2017 headlining his own tour.

That thinness is something that never leaves Oh My God. Gibbz is pretty religious about the tones that he uses and they are quite influenced by 80s electropop which was also panned for it's lack of sonic depth. Where Gibbz succeeds is when He sings something sultry over something electronic. The final track on the record "24/7" has similar production as "Oh My God" but what I have been talking about comes very clear in the last moments of the song. There should be some bigness, take the track somewhere other than where it began. It is almost as if Gibbz is able to build this incredible structure of a song, but filling it with all the little things to be discovered is something He has yet to really dial in. Oh My God is undeniably catchy and has a sensuality all its own but there just is not enough here to really make a great impact.

7.0 out of 10