After filming was done, Hope and Balouzian reached out to Lusk to see if he was interested in working on something a little more experimental. In search of a choir for the project, they met the Compton-raised Lusk at the casting sessions and instantly knew they were in the presence of a great vocal talent. The Sunderland-born Hope had already been living in LA for five years when he was introduced to Balouzian, who grew up in the Burbank neighbourhood. The trio first came together back in 2016, when Hope and Balouzian were working on a film together, Hope in the director’s chair and Balouzian working on the soundtrack.

“We want to make great music that matters,” says Lusk. This is music that transcends the mere every day and at its core is about bringing people together – one nation, under a groove. Hope, Lusk and Balouzian have spent the past five years refining their sound, putting in the work to create something not just sonically spectacular, but important too. We’ve taken our time, focussing on things that are going to stand the test of time.” He’s not wrong. “Things are banged out in this fast mass-produced way – but we’re moving in the opposite direction. “As technology becomes quicker and faster, the craft is disappearing out of everything,” explains Hope. As perfectionists, everything Gabriels do they do to the highest of standards. All that and they can serve up a stunningly simple but devastating piano ballad, too. The song is becoming a firm favourite of Gilles Peterson, Off White’s Virgil Abloh, Annie Mac, and none other than Elton John, who branded it “one of the most seminal records I’ve heard in the last 10 years”.ĭigging sensitively into the past but also looking defiantly ahead to the future, echoes of vintage soul and R&B coast alongside the warmer, more human fringes of electronica and the spacious experimentation of ultra-contemporary alt pop in Gabriels’ vast vision. Theirs is a cinematic world, one led by the hypnotically soulful title track of debut EP Love and Hate In A Different Time. With each member of the trio already a master of their own creative field – vocalist Jacob Lusk is an acclaimed gospel singer and choir director while co-producers Hope and Ari Balouzian are, respectively, an established film director and classically trained musician/soundtrack artist, they have somehow managed to create something even bigger than the sum of its impressive parts.

“The three of us are storytellers,” begins Ryan Hope, one third of the Los Angeles based Gabriels, who might just be the most compelling new act of 2021.

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2016 work from home song