Last Friday, March 31st, Reach Records EDM artist and producer Gawvi dropped his debut LP ‘We Belong.’ Gawvi for many years has been a huge name behind the scenes with huge production credits to some of the biggest songs to come out of Reach and other CHH songs. Last year, he was officially signed to the Reach roster as an official artist. With all of the previous artists from Reach all being rappers, this was a huge leap for Reach. Before Gawvi dropped anything, it left some fans a bit confused on what Gawvi would bring to the table with his own music. It wasn’t long after, we got a glimps of what he offered with the song “Viana.” This made it clear that we were about to get some music people could really dance too.
July and September 2016, Gawvi gave us a set of EP’s entitled ‘Lost in Hue’ and ‘Holding Hue.’ These projects were both well received by fans, but being only 4 songs each, they just seemed almost criminally short and left people (including myself) wanting more. Less than a year later, we got a full length debut LP from the EDM artist and it hasn’t let down at all. Within the first 24 hours, ‘We Belong’debut #1 on the Electronic iTunes charts and even breaking top 10 overall. Now if I can be honest for a second, I personally don’t listen to Electronic music or even generally enjoy it. Everything from Skrillex, Alison Wonderland to Sampha either stresses me out or kind of bores me to tears, but Gawvi caught and held my attention in 2 ways.
1. I am more aware of him as an artist and a person, so it was easier giving his stuff a chance. 2. He has a more diverse sound in all of his songs, that it keeps me on my toes when listening to his music. Like I said earlier, both of the Hue EP’s were way too short in my opinion and I would sit there listening for something more from him on those projects… just knowing he was so close to hooking me as a fan for sure. ‘We Belong’ he has finally broken that threshold with me and I believe he will with many other people.
One of the best qualities of this album is how much more the EDM it really is, it encompasses rock, Pop and R&B in a beautiful blend that makes it such an ear worm. Almost all of the songs just hit you in the right way, from the set up of the beginning moments of each track, the bass drops, vocals and even the transition from song to song. Some of the biggest bangers, will really sit well with real EDM fans because of the crazy and “lose-your-mind” type beats with songs like “Rock’n’Roll,” “God Speed,” “En La Calle” and “Cumbia.” All of these tracks are personally ones that stress me out on the bass drops, but I know that people who really like that sound, will be banging their heads to it at shows. Personally, this album really shines in the aspect of its worship type songs. There is really more on here then you might think. Even if Gawvi didn’t really plan it to be that way, I have found myself in some of the biggest fits of worship I’ve done in awhile. Most of the songs give thanks to God for what He has done in Gawvi’s life, to the blessing he has received, thanking Him for always being in his life constantly and generally talking about the impact God brings to his life.
Overall, this is a surprisingly solid project. I wouldn’t say it has made me a full fan of EDM, but I can say that this will be on repeat for the next couple of weeks for sure. If you still aren’t sure you want to give it a try, listen to the songs, “Rock’n’Roll,” “Closer,” “Steady,” “En La Calle” and “Like We Belong.” These have become some of my favorites of the year already.
You can get the album on iTunes here!
Enjoy!
