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.

Further down the rabbit hole...

 It's funny how some things strike a chord (so to speak). My last post about music that was off the radar prompted more interest than posts about many far better known people. So...

I talked recently to Damien Mahoney who is Caulbearers. Both his offerings on Bandcamp are worth having, I just bought them in fact, and they will be on the iPod for the drive home from Scotland on Sunday. The single 'Hollow Bones' would be at home on Tru Thoughts Records, very Quantic Soul Orchestra. The 'More Lie Deep' EP is a bit more varied, bits of a variety of world musics, Jazz and Soul. If you buy the CD version you get a unique hand stamped card case. May have to buy that as well. Highly recommended. Much like the Power Pop we talked about last time not massively fashionable, but good tunes well played and produced are always a good calling card and Caulbearers have them in spades.

I'll talk more about Antarma when his new music starts appearing. In the meantime his last single 'Chill for a Minute' is still available on Bandcamp. The music is a clash of all sorts of Funky, Jazzy, Hip Hop styles, and the words don't take themselves too seriously, always a good thing in this corner of the musical forest. 

Something that has changed over the last few months in my posts is that Bandcamp has featured more often. From the John McLaughlin album in April to Pennan Brae last week, artists are starting to take control back from the corporations. Another example of this to round off a fairly funky feature is The Sultan's Swing. On heavy rotation on Jazz FM with 'Dune' featuring flautist Chip Wickham and a Fender Rhodes powered groove straight out of 1975, you can get their 2 album 2 single discography for around £10, which is stupidly cheap. Nothing quite equals 'Dune' but they have a neat line in atmospheric piano Jazz as well as the more Jazz Funk material. With the continuation of Bandcamp Fridays at the start of every month for the rest of this year, when they hand back their revenue share to the artists, this is the portal to support. We'll cover CD Baby's abandonement of the independent artist by way of contrast soon.

Speaking of Jazz Funk, if you haven't seen Rodney P's documentary for BBC on the origins and rise of that genre. He makes a compelling case for the London Soul Boys as begetters of the New Romantics in the early 80s. Worth a watch on iPlayer while you can.