Short Reviews [Fernando Perdomo - 2024 - "Self"]

Over the years I have heard quite a few of Fernando’s albums, and to be honest I have often felt he has missed the mark, but this one did show promise, at least at the beginning. The reason for the title is that Fernando did everything himself, from playing all the instruments and providing vocals through to production. Perdomo comments, “‘Self’ is not just an album. It is a definition of who I am. It is the most complete statement I have ever made as a recording artist.” He admits he is heavily influenced by a diverse group of musicians from Todd Rundgren, Yes, Emitt Rhodes, Paul McCartney and Jason Falkner, and the result here is a somewhat eccentric set of songs. Three are under three minutes in length, two just break four, while the closer is nearly twenty minutes long. That is seen as being the prog epic, but unfortunately this is the song which lets the rest of the album down. Up until then we have had some interesting pop/rock numbers which work well, but there is little right with this as the harmony vocals feel strained and suffer and the melodic guitar works well in its own right but not when placed against the rest of the arrangement. It is very sixties in its styling, but it is the lack of polish and finesse which means it is never has the impact he is looking for. Possibly this would have worked much better as an instrumental as in many ways the guitar is the voice anyway, but the vocals as they are really detract from the overall impact. I could have done without the inclusion of ‘Self’ on the album of the same name, and it would have been much improved if the first six songs had been released as an EP or if there had been more of the same to conclude the album.