From carpenter to composer, a story blending creativity and deeply human experiences, through expressions of uniquely evocative contemplation, wonder, and charm. S.E.N is the global collaborative musical project founded by Slovakian artist and songwriter Branislav Pitoňák, and All-Encompassing is a debut album blending passion and playfulness across 10 original works.
Beginning with Tomorrow, we’re introduced to a bright and colourful pop-rock arrangement and female vocal lead. The song rolls gently through complex poetic verses, with profound statements and questions that seem vague yet relatable, towards an effective and memorable chorus. There’s something delicate and folk-like to this mildly theatrical, long-form melody and theme, and it makes for an inspiring start.
The project S.E.N is one inherently drawing from evolutionary changes and concepts. The artist behind it references a bible verse in trying to make sense of these songs that would appear in his mind, as if out of nowhere. The imaginative repertoire grew and grew, until finally, Branislav enlisted the help of a handful of talented musicians and performers, to help craft and bring to life his unique compositions.
On the integrity and charm of real musicianship, he reflects that authenticity is essential: “None of them (the wise) ever said that truth is pleasant, gentle or pretty. Only that it will set you free.”
As we move into Lead Debate, suddenly the subject matter is more poignant, an anti-war song built around a metaphor – much like many of this album’s topics – and a dramatic marching rhythm and piano part backing up again complex references that naturally provoke thought.
The sung melody is less mainstream accessible, more intriguing and reinforcing of this topical depth, but the piano pattern is impressively catchy and absorbing, and we resolve each outpouring with the powerful return to a chorus of energy, grit and passion, relaying in essence: “Go ahead and fight. Once you run out of ammo, energy, lives and willpower, then you get your wits back together”.
Another highlight from the album is one that creatively shifts gears distinctly, as Society welcomes a raspy folk-punk male vocal lead, and an engaging unity between sung and played melodies. The song talks of the ruin of modern society, and again employs metaphors to reflect upon contemporary issues, before resolving once more with the darkness of error, and the vast need for the return of values.
We hear similar ideas within the bass-led ambiance and song of Flight, a more positive twist on the topic presented with a quirky jam and optimistic imagery of nature and self-contained hopefulness in the face of surrounding difficulties. That balance is key to the progression of All-Encompassing, an aptly-titled album, at its core delivering an abstract narrative that’s both dreamy and fiercely confronting.
Also worth noting is the song Meadow, where acoustic and electric guitars are finger-picked in unison, alongside a female voice that proceeds to guide us back towards the embrace and serenity of the natural world. Then afterwards, there’s a sudden uplifting prowess and calmness about Perfect Match – a cheery groove, vocals and synths again dancing in unison, as we get a romantic set of lyrics that beg for you to listen more than once. An hypnotic highlight with a great retro gamer-style instrumental breakdown.
After this, King Gambit takes a sultry world-music acoustic pathway through a more comical storyline, as a raspy medieval vocal and electric guitar bring passion and presence to an alluring conversation about adoring the game of Chess.
This track picks up the pace for its chorus, injecting something of a pop-punk vibe into the album’s penultimate moment, with a massive earworm of a hook, and this seems to set the bar well, or rather, apply a level of worthy contrast, with the closing piano-funk and folk of Tradition.
By this point, both the subject matter and the style of writing, these extensive verse lines and ideas, the sudden breaks or stops and starts, the playful solos, and the unfiltered musings on modern life, all feel recognisable, distinct and easy to pin-point as the work of S.E.N.
Originally titled as a name for the ‘band’ that would hopefully come to be, SEN was first a Slovak word for ‘dream’, but ultimately became a clever acronym for ‘Singing, Energy, Novelty.’ This approach works equally in English, German, Slovak and Scandinavian languages, and allows the songwriter a clear level of freedom and playfulness when writing songs of true depth.
It’s a likable, uplifting style, but one that leaves an essential set of ideas and inspiring possibilities lingering, along with its melodies, and all of this shines beautifully throughout the enjoyable and brilliantly original album All-Encompassing.
