Vladimir Vojnović: “Micro Universe” demonstrates the breathtaking scope of his sound and ambition

Vladimir Vojnović, also known as Vlad, is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer who lives and works in the city of Novi Sad, northern Serbia. He started playing piano at the age of six and then gradually started to discover other instruments such as acoustic guitar and blues harp. Vladimir has performed with various bands ranging from pop to metal, and has also worked on various albums released by prominent record labels such as Warner music, MTV Adria, Lampshade media, Automatic records, SKC NS, M Production, and so on.

A professional music studio owner – as a keyboard player, Vladimir has played many concerts across Europe, mostly in Serbia, Germany, Slovenia and Hungary.

Considering his performance curriculum it comes as a surprise that “Micro Universe” is Vladimir Vojnović’s debut solo album. The idea for the album name came up after one of Vlad’s music sessions in a secluded mountain cabin – he states that he hates living in the city. Vladimir saw a swarm of honey bees and the words micro universe instantly popped up, hence the honeycomb used as the album’s cover art.

As would be expected from a multi-talented artist, this project is a one-man tour de force – Vladimir plays all instruments, except for some minor bass bits, as well as handles all the vocal parts.

The trouble with Vladimir Vojnović is that he makes the creation of superb crossover of pop and acoustic art rock look so easy that most listeners will take it for granted. Unless you’ve been around a few years and listened to other artists attempt to create this sort of music, then you may fail to appreciate the unique mix of creative talent, inspiration, sheer hard work, and encyclopedic knowledge of music theory and performance technique that has gone into this project.

What’s more, Vlad’s voice is a considerably flexible and emotionally powerful instrument that embraces many influences. The key structural difference between Vladimir Vojnović and the wave of bands and artists trying to capture this organic genre is that Vlad is able to say in a three-minute song what some bands may need a 20 minute mini-concert for. And this is due to his sheer musical virtuosity, and simple talents for making listeners emote.

Yet for all the above ingredients, Vlad’s music is a refined art without pretension or musical opulence. He sets out from track one, “Only”, with a groovy strumming acoustic guitar, a hand clapping beat, luscious strings and plenty of harmony.

“My Kind Of Winter” fully demonstrates the breathtaking scope of his sound and ambition, riding on a gentle multidimensional keyboard-driven soundscape. “Gotta Go” was apparently initially created as a song for children before making its transformation to the album version, after adults fell in love with it.

The album’s most entrancing instrumentation is done through a combination of piano and acoustic guitar — it can be delicate, dark, fuzzy, or outright epic – “Heaven’s Gate” is a perfect example of its smooth efficiency. The intense and moving “Eons” was inspired by a person who had spent 30 years in prison and deals with the concept of time relativity, explained Vlad.

The song brings us to one of my favorites, “Till The Day I Die”, which is probably one the most accessible and catchy tracks on the album, due to its slow-burning but effervescent melody and lead vocal.

But there really isn’t a bad track on this album. Vladimir Vojnović has put so much effort into it, and it hasn’t gone to waste. Listen to the sublime response to Queen’s “I Want It All”, entitled “You’ll Never Have It All”, overdriven guitar riff and all!

“Dreamcatcher” is the closing credits to a fantastic journey. An absolutely beautiful finale, to an absolute gorgeous world, that is “Micro Universe”. I strongly recommend this album to anyone who wants to listen to an album, in a class, and genre of its own!

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