I love music with words, the way a songwriter intertwines melody and lyrics into a kind of sonic sculpture to be enjoyed from all angles.
What might feel less obvious is that this “word nerd” also loves songs without words. There is something magical about music that takes you on a journey using pure melody and emotion, without relying on words to do any of the narrative work.
Terry Gomes started out nearly 20 years ago as a singer-songwriter in the Paul Simon mold, telling relatable stories while employing a familiar palette of mostly acoustic folk-rock or country-folk arrangements. Change came in 2013, when Gomes’ muse convinced him to let his music to the talking on his first all-instrumental album, the winkingly named Shh. Since then he’s issued two EPs, one full album (2017’s The Tropical Dream), and a bundle of singles, all of them instrumental, each of them increasingly infused with Latin and Caribbean elements.
Ottowa-based composer / guitarist Gomes may have grown accustomed to snowy winters, but his connection with a more tropical style of music is more than simply affectionate—it’s genetic. “Growing up in a Guyanese family, I was exposed to a lot of music from the Caribbean, South America and Latin America,” he says, adding that “this music is indelibly stamped on me.” The evidence is all over the amiably named Some Chunes, out April 8.
Kicking things off, “Open Up” features island-flavored rhythm and lead guitar, vibes, bass and percussion in a playful, sunny dance. “Happy Landings” adds the fresh color of Nick Dyson’s trumpet to the palette, along with steel drums and what feels like a samba rhythm; it’s both easygoing and agile. “Tradewinds” offers a gentler recipe of acoustic over a shaker/percussion bed, before “Someday Castaway” turns up the heat with a playful, upbeat number highlighted by Gomes’ scatty guitar runs over an elastic rhythm section.
First single “A Recurring Thought” is a lilting acoustic number that feels designed to both soothe and set your imagination adrift. By contrast, “Rumjaro 360” asserts a sort of bossa nova sway, this time with Ed Lister adding trumpet. Then “Tomorrow” offers a sort of interlude, a steady, thrummy piano number before “Look Alive!” comes busting in with buzzy, fusiony electric lead guitar.
That jazzy edge takes over for “A Day Of Rain,” whose tasteful licks had me imagining Wes Montgomery sitting on the beach with an umbrella drink nearby. Next, there’s an early-rock undertone to “Hey Sweet Shirley,” whose bright energy feels almost Ritchie Valens-like in places. Finally, closer “Eeza Gomes” pays loving tribute to Gomes’ favorite Guyanese “auntie” with an upbeat strut conveying abundant joie de vivre, and Lister again featured on trumpet.
The album credits are especially interesting for this liner notes junkie, as Some Chunes was assembled in a way that might have been considered unusual as recently as a decade ago. Three tracks (“Open Up,” “Someday Castaway,” “A Recurring Thought”) are brand new recordings; two are remastered versions of standalone singles first released in 2019 (“Rumjaro 360”) and 2024 (“Eeza Gomes”); and six are remastered versions of previously released tracks from Gomes’ 2014 EP Sand In My Shoes (“Tradewinds,” “Look Alive!” and “Hey Sweet Shirley”) and 2018 album The Tropical Dream (“Happy Landings,” “Tomorrow” and “A Day Of Rain”).
The magic trick Gomes pull off here is that, despite handpicking selections from different sources and timeframes, he’s built an album that feels like a cohesive musical statement. The buoyant and evocative Some Chunes offers listeners a sunny respite in warmer climes, leaving you with that inevitable, tantalizing question: why go back?
