EP REVIEW: Souvenirs – Gigi Gold

GIGI GOLD is ready for her reintroduction. Following stints in THE GHOST RIDER IN THE SKY and LYONESS with her husband, former GALLOWS guitarist Steph Carter, her debut EP as a solo artist is a broad canvas of riff-driven rock ’n’ roll and stripped back folk. These five short tracks are scene-setters, a way for Gigi to show us what she’s got in her back pocket. With Souvenirs she wants the world to know she’s a force to be reckoned with under the banner of her own name, channelling her influences while standing on the shoulders of her previous work.

The spirit of LYONESS lives on in opener Why Should I, a swaggering blues rock banger that would go down a storm in any bar along Route 66. “Find your own way baby, and I’ll find my own,” she sings, a classic lyric of empowerment over an equally classic throwback sound. It’s her way of saying this song, this EP, this version of GIGI GOLD is about playing by her own rules, while conscious it’s not her first rodeo. 

The smoky You Ain’t Changed is a deceptively layered composition, richly cinematic in the way it seamlessly comes together. Like every track here, it feels built for the stage; with her old-school sound, Gigi goes against the modern grain of digitally processed beats and TikTok soundbites. When the strings waltz into Stare Up At The Sky, the scene is clear in your mind: musicians with guitars, cello, drums. On Souvenirs, as much as she is telling us what she’s got, Gigi’s also reminding us about the electricity between performer and audience. Her history of being in bands and constantly creating identifies her as a musician who lives for the act of singing and playing, giving her an authenticity that is heard loud and clear here. 

Which means it’s a record with soul and groove, a heart and a pulse. Closer Hot Coals is built on top of a mean rhythm section, clean tones over immensely human musicality. With her latest project, GIGI GOLD sounds confident in herself and in the power of her songwriting. Souvenirs is a heck of a remedy against cookie cutter production and virality-seeking snippets, and shows that when a musician’s got the chops to cut through the noise, all they’ve got to do is keep going until people sit up and listen. Maybe this is Gigi’s time. 

Rating: 8/10 

Souvenirs is out now via Marshall Records.

Like GIGI GOLD on Facebook.