Gadi Caplan – Play It Again (Self-Released, 2025)
On Play It Again, composer and multi-instrumentalist Gadi Caplan presents a distinct form of inventive progressive fusion, where world music traditions intertwine with the adventurous spirit of 1970s rock, the sophistication of jazz, and timeless western classical music. Caplan opts for subtlety and imagination, building songs that resist formula and instead flow with organic freedom.
“Get Out the Door” (3:50) is a bright opener driven by warm vocals and a Middle Eastern-inspired electric guitar line. Global percussion accents give the song an immediate sense of motion, like the first steps into uncharted territory.
On “The Devil’s Waltz” (3:55) Caplan channels David Gilmour’s soulful, laid back style, both vocally and on guitar, before handing the spotlight to a violin that closes the track in a flourish of aching beauty.
Dreamlike and hazy, “White” (3:52) opens with distant vocals that hover as if sung from another room, intimate yet unreachable.
“On the Way” (2:59) is an elegant solo guitar meditation steeped in Middle Eastern modes, cushioned by ambient electronica and the gentle drift of cello.
“Infinite Love” (3:16) takes a surprising left turn: trip-hop beats surround smooth, pop-leaning vocals with a sly nod to Steely Dan’s sophisticated polish.
Brief but potent, “Under the Sun” (2:33) presents fantastic progressive blues-influenced electric guitar.
“Evoke” (4:18) is perhaps the album’s centerpiece. A mystic guitar theme unfurls before shapeshifting into jazz-leaning interplay, then ignites into a driving progressive rock crescendo where bass and drums surge beneath an epic guitar solo.
“Passage” (0:42) is a fleeting transition of guitar and strings, like a breath between movements.
“Memory” (2:29) offers a brief but stunning symphonic rock piece that conjures early King Crimson with its brooding grandeur.
The title track, “Play It Again” (5:48), begins in near-whispered intimacy before gathering momentum, layering guitars and vocals into a quintessentially prog build.
Closing the record with grace on “Photographs” (4:12), Caplan again tips his hat to Gilmour, weaving a laid-back opening into a steadily rising progression of rich harmonies and layered choruses.
Buy Play It Again.