gil hockman - all the things

Gil Hockman

All The Things
self-released; 2013

3.9 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Gil Hockman is a singer-songwriter from Johannesburg, South Africa. It wasn’t until after spending a decade in the music industry that he tried to give making music a shot fulltime. He initially released an album of covers with a few originals back in 2011. Just last month he released his first EP All the Things which is his first collection of original work. I’m glad he did. The songs are great, the production is crisp and I really dug his voice. These are folksongs that deal with the transient nature of relationships, our existential angst and the outside world.  

The first song is a slow number that moseys down the street. The acoustic guitar is strummed as feedback comes in occasionally from an electronic. The one-off drums and whole vibe made me feel as if I was in a saloon in the old west. The songs are put together well but I think is what is most impressive is his voice. It is original and has a captivating quality that really keeps your attention. It’s a great way to start off the album and it’s almost as good as “The Road” which has some stellar acoustic guitar work. “The Ballad Of George Marchinkowski (Hannah's Song)” felt more like a sing-a-long than the others. It had a child-esque quality to it that made me smile. The album ends with “All The Things” which is the longest song on the album. It is another song a bit similar to the first in that it felt like a mosey down the street. This is a really solid effort of Hockman’s original work. I’m glad he decided to do this as I enjoyed it and will be looking forward to his next batch of originals

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