From the start, there is an intriguing slowness to Moving On as if Karim G just refuses to accept the inevitable. And yet, there is also a peaceful, almost lovely melody, which indicates quite the opposite: acceptance.
Karim Gandouli is a phenomenon. A multi-instrumentalist who began his project, Karim G, in Spring 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic as an emotional valve. Gandouli writes and records everything independently, yet the band remains a crucial collaborative effort to bring his songs onto the stage. But first and foremost, the only 21-year-old artist sounds as if he has written and performed music for decades by now.
In May 2022, Karim G released 2o, a brooding volcano of creativity, mixing different languages and facets, held together by a raw yet refined sound that takes the best of pop and shoegaze.
This mesmerizing fusion is omnipresent in Moving On, an ambassador for Karim G's upcoming opus, Echoes of Ephemera, which is officially released tomorrow.
I feel like moving on
The past is like a stone
That makes me drown and sink
If I could only think
Of something less absurd
To make sure that I’m heard
For time flies by so fast
Why cannot one thing last?
The song starts simply, and in some sense, remains that way, even if it Karim G builds the composition up to a towering, monumental catharsis towards the end. But simplicity is no insult here, rather it represents a resourcefulness, a cunning effectiveness in the way Moving On operates.
Lyrically, Karim G leaves room for interpretation: Is it a lost love? Or the death of a close person? And he leaves room to contemplate over the song's message; nothing that punches you in the face with explicity, more tranquil invitation to reflect in this eclectic soundscape. And maybe, just maybe, find resolve.
For a while you made me smile
Now I know, you had to go
It is highly refreshing to hear a song like Moving On. A song that takes its time, does not rush to deliver its message, does not stuff its composition with unnecessary frippery. Moving On is a true gem of artistic thought and execution, a triumphant hymn to expression over conformity.
