Calzo Houdini: “One Man Room” – a meticulous and unprecedented blend of power, control, vision and groove

Callum James Greens is a music composer and producer releasing original music as Calzo Houdini, also giving the name to the record label ‘Calzo Houdini Records’. Calzo has worked with numerous multi-platinum recording artists as a producer, composer and advisor – including Empire of the Sun, Peter, Bjorn and John, The Streets and others.

He has been producing music professionally for about ten years now, and has recently released the 7 track EP entitled “One Man Room”, which also features the vocal talents of Stevie Adams and Holly Drummond, as well as Luke Steele and The World Time Orchestra.

The first thing that struck me about this EP, was how many organic sounding instruments I could hear, and the amount of electric guitar riffs that dodged in and out of the music throughout the recording. This collection of electronic songs is not for everyone. It is for the tastemakers of the world who have spent long hours going through track after track to seek out rare gems.

It is for those who understand that making an understatement can be sometimes more poignant than conveying the obvious. It is for the adventurous, who seek sonic landscapes yet to be exploited. “One Man Room” will be the soundtrack to your journey home from work; your pre-club rituals; your dance floor anthem; your post event come-down; your productive work-day backdrop. Calzo Houdini takes you blissfully where you want to go on every occasion with this EP.

I popped this into the mp3 player in the car one evening and something about the vocals in “Your Words” drew me back. Turns out that was a very favorable swing of events, because as of the second listen, everything began sticking into my head. The sounds, the mixing, particularly in the slow-burning “Up & Down”, all began to irrevocably embed themselves into my ears and mind.

And from there my passion has only grown. I have now totally fallen in love with the electric guitar in “In Your Favour” and the strings and brass in “Drifting”, featuring Stevie Adams. The music flows seamlessly from melody to melody, mood to mood, track to track – all different, but all linked by a similar groovy vibe.

Calzo has stated that he just wanted to put together a collection of songs that he enjoyed making, without caring too much about the flow or cohesiveness of the recording, yet there is fluidity from beginning to end which is indicative of a well-made recording no matter how bi-polar or disparate the tones of each song may be.

The ever-changing, ever-evolving sounds and rhythms of each song resolve into a warm, satisfying sound. They are rich in texture as there is so very much more than simple melody overlaid onto a simple beat. The layers spun together, work dynamically and synchronistically.

Calzo Houdini’s craft, as heard on “One Man Room”, is wonderfully sharp – a meticulous and unprecedented blend of power, control, vision, and groove.