Fideleo: Beneath The Kaimai

By Ania Glowacz

What a beautiful album. Beginning with an intriguing atmospheric instrumental (featuring a purerehua, classic Maori instrument), you're not quite sure what kind of music you're gonna hear next. What unfolds is a glorious classic rock & roll opus (of sorts), touching across absolute decades of guitar music to be something as big and clever as mix of the Datsuns, sprinkled with Die! Die! Die! underscored by the stadium-sized appeal of the likes of The Verve and The Music, with small touches of psychedelia, Led Zep and maybe U2. Some may say it's lazy to compare one band with the sound of others, but when you're trying to introduce a fantastic band who have made an astonishing album, you need to start somewhere. Of course, Fideleo sound like none of the bands mentioned, but the touchstones are there. From the heart of Matamata, Fideleo wrote these songs between 2001-2005 and they combine excellent songwriting with musicianship. Timeless really, they range from 4 minute rock songs to epic 12 minute journeys with equal ease. Little instrumental touches and arrangements on each song make them special. These songs are played with heart, and the only real criticism would be the vocals which sound a little "young" and thin (contrasting with the maturity of the music), but that may just be in the recording, or quite deliberate. Brilliant cover art as well - if only it were vinyl-sized! A real grower.

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Issues

NZ Musician

August/September 2008