Some want honey - Gabriel Moreno's 'Nights in the Belly of Bohemia' reviewed

My favourite album of the year so far is 'Nights in the Belly of Bohemia' by Gabriel Moreno. This sixth studio album by Moreno shows the singer/songwriter at the height of his powers. The London-based Gibraltarian poet and musician explores the dilemmas of living authentically as an artist within an often-unsympathetic capitalist system. In ‘Lovers, Dreamers,’ he observes, “They’re selling cakes in Montmartre / which cost more than the art, / did you trade your Bedouin heart / for a hit in the charts, did the muse completely depart?...”

Using a nylon-strung guitar and a deep, dark voice, Moreno self-mythologises – he’s a defiant troubadour, “stuck,” as he sings, “in the belly of Bohemia,” that liminal space where artist and audience are free to share exuberance and deep meaning.

Moreno's sound – beautifully complemented by touches of violin, bass, percussion and piano provided by his Bohemian friends – is often compared to Leonard Cohen, but the ghosts of Baudelaire and Keats are also cheering him on from the wings. The opening tracks, ‘Edge of a Dream,’ ‘Lightning Bolt’ and ‘Bohemia,’ are all delightfully sing-along-able tracks yet Moreno never sounds trite or predictable. His unique lyrical style deploys romanticism, surrealism and symbolism, juxtaposing obscure words (‘ebullience,’ ‘splendorous,’) with slightly comical, everyday words (‘wonky,’ ‘fizzle.’)

His lyrics are often self-mocking, at times apologetic. In ‘Bohemia’ he sings, “I know that you need to go ‘coz someone has to keep / this boat afloat...” while ‘Castles’ begins, “Forgive me son, / there is no stash under the stairs...” and goes on “...I have no house in Hampstead Heath...” Poets and musicians are often not very rich, nor very practical. Unlike Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons,’ Moreno admits, “...The books I own / won’t teach you how to sail or swim...” But perhaps there are other important things to pass onto our children: “I have no sports car on the drive, / typewriters, turntables bore truths that once kept me alive...” Moreno seems to be inviting his son to inherit his artistic sensibility: “...Take this pen, take this shield / to slay the beast of stagnation...”

The underlying themes of the album – the importance of nurturing our true nature, of allowing people to produce something of real value – seem to be encapsulated by a line from the closing track, ‘Churn Out Gold’: “some want honey and others want the bees to churn out gold.” The deeply-moving songs on Nights in the Belly of Bohemia – and the accompanying poetry book of the same title (published by Poetry Mondays Press) – are things of real value and testify that, although they may not yield a hit in the charts, the muse has certainly not abandoned Gabriel Moreno.

This is an extended version of my album review that appears in the June 2025 issue of Songlines magazine, #208.  

Both 'Nights in the Belly of Bohemia' - the album (Poetry Monday Records) and the poetry collection of the same title (published by Poetry Monday Press) are available now.