Angels & queens part I

"Frontman Jacob Lusk is nothing short of incredible on the trio's debut album, a powerful half-hour of top-tier songwriting that proves Gabriels are far more than soul revivalists ... [This] concentrated dose is all you need (...) to stake a strong claim to the title of album of the year".

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"Is Gabriels' debut album the album of the year? That's subjective - but, yes. It probably is: Angels and Queens is nothing short of remarkable. It may be only twenty-seven minutes long, but what a twenty-seven minutes. Every single damn second matters. Joining [Jacob] Lusk in the creation of this work of magnificence are composer Ari Balouzian and Sunderland-born film director Ryan Hope. Their backgrounds give an indication of how Angels and Queens sounds. It is a cinematic, dramatic collection, awash with lush orchestration that provides a sumptuous platform for that voice".

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"The rise of Gabriels has been so swift that they've been busy trying to catch up. Hence, perhaps, the decision to release their debut album in two parts ... But any sense that the listener is being short-changed is blown away by the sheer quality of the writing and production on offer. There are traces of Prince's "Sign O' The Times" in the rolling, funky title track opener, an act of sad projection as [Jacob] Lusk tries to imagine the thoughts of his late godsister in "If You Only Knew" and howling at the moon, over Tricky-ish contours, in "Taboo"".