Sault - What's the story?

same? this isn't doing anything for me after two spins, gonna try once more. Feels weirdly new agey and asmr influenced.

My first impression was that it is a bit too mellow, but I need to give it more time.

Personally, not liking it better than Rose in the Dark. Feels to me like it could lose a couple of songs to be tighter, not that I don’t like any song in particular, as they all sound great, but it feels a bit homogenic in some runs. It’s also a bit frontloaded imho as two of the standouts are the opening songs.

I’d probably lose “heart full of love” and “know that you are loved”

Funny, I had the same Erykah Badu feeing the first time I listened to it. Just played it again - on better speakers and with more focused attention - and that similarity feels a lot harder to track.

Anyway, I don’t love this record but I think that says more about my own taste than I does about Cleo’s ambition. I just don’t generally go for the jazzier side of this genre.

Funny, I think this is maybe too long overall BUT the best songs are the ones that stretch for 7-8 minutes, “Build Me Up” especially. Would love a record from her that is maybe just 8 tracks but still an hour long.

Gonna stick my neck out and say it's pretty good. Reminds me a bit of the last Jessie Ware album in that the production is very reverential in parts (here it's Curtis/Marvin/Rotary/Roy Ayers rather than 70s/80s disco) but still its own thing. Plan is to listen on repeat for a week and then see where we're at.

Good plan, sean :)

it's mellow but never boring, it's so beautiful & constantly surprising with interesting turns. i wouldn't cut anything either, the length feels generous rather than bloated.

So, a couple of listens in, I feel it's an album that will grow on me. My first impressions are that the emotional, self help lyrical content is a little underwhelming compared to 'roses in the dark' and feels a bit like treading old ground. The production lacks an edge of funk too that I feel the other album had, the retro organic instrument palette can be samey, as nice as it is. It think she has rejected more mainstream r'n'b production styles for a long while ago (you get the sense that she's got burnt trying to navigate the industry), but I'd kinda like her to try some more up tempo stuff again ( I first came across her with this poppy dance r'n'b track and would like to see her add some faster funkier favours to another release.

Cleo sol - never the right time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Tef1QdVgo

boy am i glad that she linked up with inflo. that was embarrassing.

DaVinChe sounding like a duplo Richcraft there

here's another Davinche/Cleo attempt at mersh R&B that goes a little harder

she looks so uncomfortable.

I agree it's a terrible video and look for her and one she didn't obviously pursue, but the song is also catchy and I would like to see her do more varied tracks than endless soul self help ' yes, Cleo, we need to love ourselves'

Yeah, really digging this album. Too soon to know if I like it more than Rose in the Dark, but for sure a strong follow-up.

reminds me of mid '70s Roberta Flack in its quietness and occasional lethargy.

i don't mind the lyrics at all, they're not the most interesting but she can get away with them with how beautiful the music is

"We Need You" turning out to be my favorite thing here.

mine too

Also "Spirit"

Listened to the new Cleo Sol a couple of times through late last night and it's beautiful. Kinda boring to say so but the production is stellar.

I just looked at buying the vinyl. £40 with postage. Come on, ffs.

Sorry, £45 with postage - and I'm in the UK.

Broken tape in here but Inflo produced the new Little Simz album and yes, the production is amazing.

"Don't Let It Go to Your Head" giving me Timbaland vibes tonight.

"9" and "Light's In Your Hands" are beautiful

Was listening to “Monsters” and realized it was reminding me equally of Gainsbourg’s Melody Nelson and Ravyn Lenae’s “Sticky”. There’s the thing that a song has to sound familiar already yet still surprise, but what’s remarkable is how they triangulate points between very different memories of listening pleasure.

so I guess the whole "only available for 99 days" thing was a fakeout

xp love that song and those "you"/"you-y-you"s at the end of every line on the verses always remind me of q-tip

xp Nope it's gone?! Not on Spotify or for purchase from the band. Still copies on hhv.de

i think it disappeared literally 2 days after I posted something upthread. Oops, sorry everyone.

It’s a weird gimmick specially when the band are so silent about everything they do. Without a statement on why they decided that it would disappear it just seems confusing and a bit annoying to fans of their music.

I thought it was going to drop from streaming but still be up for sale, didn't realize it would be gone completely

kind of a bummer, I didn't really get to listen to it much

It was a free download so I wouldn't feel too bad downloading it from s0uls33k or whatnot

Oof. Glad I downloaded it when I could, but I was still hoping to buy a physical copy.

They are so mysterious, so who knows, but I keep half expecting them to announce a major signing to a label. Hard to imagine they weren't getting courted hard.

i think it is a strong statement to make and tells the world how they, and they alone are in control of their output, and how it is "consumed". it feels quite empowering to me to be able to put out music for a limited period and then withdraw it at a certain point. why not? after all, it's not like it has totally vanished off the face of the earth. if someone really wants to find it they can still find ways to seek it out.

it's still on one of the internet jukeboxes for now: nine by sault.

despite first reactions, I've found 'mother' a really fantastic album, listened to it many times and respect the deeply personal journey and outlook Cleo offers up to us, I listen to her first album and a lot of the sault stuff, black is, rise,...but 9 hasn't been something I've gone back to as much. To me, the best sault stuff is Cleo n inflo, her solo work with inflo is steller, I am asking myself did 9 deviate too much from that core.

stirmonster otm

https://www.turntablelab.com/products/sault-nine-vinyl-lp?goal=0_8b218d7604-9eabe5c3f5-30144269&mc_cid=9eabe5c3f5&mc_eid=cffadd1fba

ah crap i thought i'd bought nine on bandcamp and then downloaded but i did not

just checked and apparently they're still allowing downloads for those who have purchased the album, so that's good!

I got a package in the mail today. I don’t remember having any Discogs orders outstanding. LO! IT IS NINE WHICH I FORGOT I HAD ORDERED APPROX 1 BILLION YEARS AGO

good news, that. i ordered —everything— when i ordered NINE and they told they would be holding it until the physical copies were all available together. i'm assuming NINE was the one we were waiting on, so hopefully i'll have some mail soon myself!

Late to the party here. I recently gave a coworker a mix cd, knowing that they keep up with music and have a player. Today I came to work and there was a vinyl mailer on my desk. He gave me a copy of Rise and it is my new favorite thing. "You Know it Ain't"!!! So damn good. Is all of it as good as Rise? Sorry, I haven't taken the time to read through the thread. This is the first I've heard of Sault.

rise is their best album, black is is also really good, but they're all worth a listen

there's quite an extended universe though, there's the five sault albums, then rose in the dark and mother by cleo sol (who's often on lead vocals in sault), and then grey area and sometimes i might be introvert by little simz, and love & hate and kiwanuka by michael kiwanuka. all those albums are produced by inflo, and simz and kiwanuka have shown up on sault tracks too.

my favourite out of all of them is mother, then rise.

IMO, '7' and '5' remain their best, most focused albums. But the 'wide-screen' version of Sault on the 'Untitled' albums is also wonderful, and 'Nine' is quite good, too.

And don't forget to get Cleo Sol's fantastic two albums, the latest two Michael Kiwanuka albums, and especially Little Simz' 'Grey Area,' all very much related to Sault's genius as they're all produced by Sault's Inflo.

Whoops, sorry to exactly double your post, UFO.

I first heard of Cleo sol through her e.p. release winter songs, I think I came across inflo on here. in case someone hasn't listened to that e.p., here's a track not to sleep on, that doesn't appear on either of her albums.

Cleo Sol -Miles Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp69xhEfS8E


also from this same e.p. this is a great live version of the track 'still cold'

Cleo Sol - Still Cold (Live)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s1t1HzBJy8

package from forever living originals arrived today. all five sault albums+mother. got the cds, packaging is pretty sparse. not mad whatsoever.
very pleased to finally have physical copies. yessum.

I got a package in the mail today. I don’t remember having any Discogs orders outstanding. LO! IT IS NINE WHICH I FORGOT I HAD ORDERED APPROX 1 BILLION YEARS AGO

lol this exact same thing happened to me last week