Sega Bodega: Salvador | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- John Lydon (AKA Johnny Rotten) told us that “Anger is an energy” back in 1986 on Public Image Ltd’s Rise. Digging beneath the layers that adulthood puts on you has been a fertile ground for exploring by any number of artists who have transitioned from a teenage-hood replete with optimism and joy, now finding themselves angry and confused about where they go from here; and that angry energy brings out some quality work (U2 exemplified that by having their album covers for Boy and War feature the same boy at two different ages, and two very different expressions).

Sega Bodega – or Salvador Navarette as he’s known to his folks – has spent most of his creative life being the clever mind behind other people’s work, particularly as one of the minds at the NUXXE label with Coucou Chloe, Shygirl, and Oklou. In 2018 his first solo project self*care gave some indication of what he might accomplish, and now with an eleven-track debut album, he’s both subverted those earlier expectations and fulfilled them.

Titling the album after his given name sends a signal that these songs are very personal and part of that peeling back the young adult layers, exposing the rawness of the feelings underneath plus the pain and anguish of confronting people, emotions and directions with that analysis. This is not to say his album is a maudlin exposé like some sort of masculine Lana del Ray essay, far from it. Navarette is angry, confused, upset, wants answers, and just might not get them. Around those lyrics he’s created some delectable sounds – beats, samples, keyboards, dialogue – it’s a real producer’s album.

One confronting thing about this release is the nod to his Glaswegian heritage with nearly every song littered with heavy language, but it is used in a way that is realistic and not gratuitous. Plus, the lyrics are descriptive, yet in a highly poetic way – rather like crossing Dylan Thomas with Lenny Bruce. For instance, on U Suck it opens with “I don’t mean to be rude but honestly / F*ck you, f*ck you, f*ck you... / I can list the ways you suck / You suck, you suck, you suck” – and yet there is a neat twist at the end, delivered in a very soft, almost whispered (ala Billie Eilish) style - “Sometimes you don’t see it but I love you.”

Another lyrical gem is on Smell Of The Rubber – “When you lie you look like you’ve cum, but as if you’ve cum in public / Slightly nervous, red faced / But deep down I know you love it” and then goes on to examine how the relationship could be an abusive one “I’m sure there’s warning somewhere here but, no, I’m sure we’ll be fine”. Across the album it’s not just the lyrics that prick the ear but the use of several instruments, such as the very acoustic grand piano on Calvin with minimal extra production (just some additional atmospheric voices or sounds and an ominous bass line), which also appears to great effect on Heaven Knows as well.

Navarette’s voice is engaging because he doesn’t drive it hard but uses it as another instrument within his producer’s kitbag. His style is reminiscent of a similar Brisbane solo artist with many tricks in his locker – Patrick King aka Death Club 7. It will be worth it to see where Navarette examines his psyche next, as Salvador should be considered one of the albums of 2020 by the time we reach 2021.

- Blair Martin.
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2204625547/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://segabodega.bandcamp.com/album/salvador">Salvador by Sega Bodega</a></iframe>