Album Notes

Rikard Sjöblom, Beardfish’s own multiinstrumental singer/songwriter, is the man behind the new project Gungfly where he tries to find a balance between the simple and the complex. He has, despite his young age, deep musical experience and a foundation to stand on as he moves swift and unconcerned between several different genres. The ambition seems to be to push the boundaries without being too ambitious or pretentious. Musically the album holds recognizable soundscapes and harmonies that provide associations which in turn should make “Please Be Quiet” appeal to a broad array of listeners.

The album consists of fifteen tracks and starts off with the soulful ballad “Whiskers”, a strong cut with nice, devoted vocals. Track two, “On and on” has a poppier feel to it and should go along perfectly when you’re cruising down the highway in a cab along the California shoreline on a perfect day! The third song on the album is called “No remorse” and now we’re dealing with a jazzy 6/8 ballad with some French accordion melodies swirling by. The following track, “Before the winter”, should appeal to anyone who likes Dire Straits. You can notice that Sjöblom hasn’t lost his love for progrock in track numer six “Rumbling boxes”. The rest of the album continues along this path, interesting combinations of genres topped off by, first and foremost, very good vocals.

The album was recorded in Rikard’s hometown Gävle between 2005 – 2008. His bandmate Petter Diamant from Bootcut play drums on six of the tracks. Robert Hansen from Beardfish appear on four of them. You can also hear Rasmus Diamant (double bass), Peter Fredriksson (trombone) and Tobias Wiklund (trumpet) in one song. Other than that Rikard is playing all of the instruments by himself.

By: Mikael Bennerhed