Caulbearers - 'Over Comes a Cloud' single review

 
Opening on Dan Mitchell’s sinister bass line, Caulbearer’s new single ‘Over Comes A Cloud’ is their best yet. They have kept the fractured funk style of previous release ‘Hollow Bones’ and added a dissonant guitar that reflects the unsettling themes of the words. Formed from reflections on a trip to Pompeii, Mahoney draws comparisons from the fate of that city and Rome with the fall of our unworthy icons, and statues and the challenges of making peace with our past.

Still present are Caulbearer’s signature Cellos but the aspect of ‘Over Comes A Cloud’ that steps it ahead of the previous work are Will Lenton’s Saxophone lines. Part Roland Kirk, and part Sons of Kemet it aligns the song with the new UK Jazz scene and makes it as at home on Jazz FM as Radio X. The uplifting closing section matches Lenton’s horns with the affirmation that “We'll make order from the chaos, that surrounds us”. Backing Mahoney’s vocals is Ruth Blake, a Joni Mitchell influenced singer songwriter, whose own music you should be making a home for as well.

With so much new music clamouring for attention now Caulbearers deserve a place in your heart because like iWitness reviewed here earlier this year they are thinking about the world and offering optimism where others are just ranting. As Mahoney says in the press release that comes with the single “Can we heed the warning signs, the clouds gathering, and come together to face these challenges, which requires honesty to look at the realities and histories of our cultures?”

If a cloud has come over the world of late one of the rays of sunshine peeking through is Caulbearers new work. Buy it at Bandcamp, where there is also a ridiculously cheap offer on their whole discography. While you’re there check out Ruth Blake’s solo albums as well.