Sault - What's the story?

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

on "threats" they were referencing heart of the congos on purpose, right?

(sorry, just listening back through the catalogue since getting that delivery and idk why it never occurred to me. maybe i just assumed it was a sample?? but is it????)

(also that song is alltime)

(Nine is now on Amazon in three formats, like other Sault etc. releases, maybe all.)
from a proselytizing email to friends:
...Sault rules that 1. You must channel classic R&B. 2.You may not merely lay back and wallow in it, or not without paying the fare of customizing.
So Cleo Sol, who has me with the first celestial phrasing of first track on new Mother, could settle for that, but usually she makes her point early on, often in small units, a few words, few syllables, few notes, piano mirrors, centering the swirl. And then, pretty often she's set the clock with...several--more minutes to fill, with killer filler, at the very least. Testing herself and listener. Another instant fave in this vein: "Build Me Up." "Build me up. Set me free." She sounds like she knows she's hard to please, but the song really tries, like for A Thousand One Nights of fabulous tales, whew (sucks for them, great for me).

In another one (so many I haven't sorted them out yet), she's being fascinating as usual, when suddenly--"Hello?" sounds like she's ducked back there---taking a call, losing connection, both? Uh-oh. It's cool, Cleo, the song and I will wait for you. "Hello?" Sounds like she's going back down the hall---
No more spoilers. This is an often ravishing, well-grounded, long-ass album, but no prob so far w all in one sitting. May skip a couple eventually, but would rather have too many to chose from than few, or it may be too many to chose and discard from period (either way, well-played, Cleo
prob TOP TEN, BABY but don't want to jump the gun (listening on bandcamp so far.)

well-grounded (if you credit/can tale this much confident romantic philosophizing from woman of the world who is also a mother, so tested that way too)

And certainly musically well-grounded, good strategies and tactics, usually.

Prob always, but haven't listened that much yet.

Waited too long to check these guys out... It's good!

mother probably my top album pick for 2021. still absolutely stunning.

I bought the Turntable Lab exclusive Black Is and Rise pressings. They sound great and am glad to own them. Wish they'd have some content besides the barebones tracklist but I shouldn't have been surprised.

mother is a great album, low-key but never boring, flits subtly through many production styles. The opening track is as hard hitting as I've ever heard Cleo, her confessional mission is brutal as its tender. She's a great story teller and she soars in the slick, groovy moods that inflo brings to many songs. He is more restrained in these projects, Cleo contributions are heavily effected and chopped around in lots of sault tracks. Cleo's solo stuff has her singing talent front and centre and while arguably more politically toned down, the personal politics of the music is not to be underestimated. She's been through some shit. She got something to say about getting out of shit. More power to you, Cleo, I can listen to more albums like this, for sure.

otm.

it occurred the other day that it was basically instant classic status for me.

has anyone seen Sault, Cleo sol or inflo live? I've seen old advertised London festival spots for Cleo, but really not often. I so would like to at least, see Cleo perform live sometime. I keep checking her website but to no avail. sadface

Pretty sure Sault has never performed live, correct? Being a mysterious studio project is part of the concept I think.

What do we think about choral/orchestral Sault ?

https://www.instagram.com/saultglobal/?hl=en

I don't know if I'm correct but I would not be surprised if one of the reason they don't perform live is that it's such a studio designed sound they bring. I suspect, despite the plethora of voices across their music, the majority of it is Inflo and Cleo together in the studio, using pitch shifting and delays and massive reverbs to create identity shifting variety. Just two people with endless creativity at their fingertips and the skill and musicality to make it count.

That “time is precious” snippet sounds… precious. The others sound good but I need to hear more.
I love how they groove, but definitely interested in this shift.

Orchestral SAULT I am fine with. Really not sure about choral SAULT. Hope those clips are the most histrionic bits.

not sure. i'll give this another listen tomorrow but i'm glad i didn't just click Buy Record/Vinyl without checking it out first. i was loving Luos Higher after one listen though.

https://saultglobal.bandcamp.com/album/air

here is the album now that it's out

I'm on the record as loving intimate-scale Sault best--but I also love that Inflo & Co. recognize absolutely no limitations or boundaries to the breadth and depth of their musical ambitions. So I am grinning ear to ear to hear them create a choral-orchestral widescreen opus. And I'll be grinning when the next release sounds like Chrissy Zebby Tembo or is all acoustic spiritual jazz or is two side-long Black prog-rock tracks. Because I know it's going to be at least quite good, and it's going to be audacious.

(Imagine this one will be divisive, but that's OK)

uhh, okay new sault? sure.

not what i expected at all, but i would guess that's the point. if you just ignore whatever you thought sault sounded like, it's pleasant but unremarkable. sounds like film cue music. kind of meh after one listen. when do the remixes come out?

i will say this: someone in the crew is, like, a really big charles stepney fan.

yup, charles stepney and some 50s film soundtrack / exotica vibes in places.

paging Whiney to come and poll that Swanswans post against that Soundslike post

Kind of wish some more things happened in this

My admiration for Sault keeps growing. At first, I loved the zero information / zero press / zero live shows aspect of it. "Fuck the music biz machine - here's some music we made." Now it's "fuck your expectations of what kind of music we do - here's some shit a lot of people are going to buy and hate!" Love the boldness.

Whiney, you now have three

Yeah, first impression is that it is a bit static in its loveliness. Still, on my first listen through, I stepped outside with headphones and the moon was almost full. As the harp came in on "Heart" rain droplets started in a mostly cloudless night. Seems like I'm destined to have moments with this band. "Heart" and "Luos Higher" with the mix of harp and koto (I think?) are really wonderful. Dorothy Ashby likely in the influences here.

But seems like there was an opportunity to construct something with a grand "Les Fleurs" payoff, and they don't go for that.

(not that making a grand "Les Fleurs" payoff is a simple task, but if anyone could...)

i didn't hate it. it sounds nice; it's just super boring. sounds like beatless unfinished backing tracks. i'm all for anyone switching up to anything at any time, but half baked is still half baked.

Inflo is paying some serious money for string & choir sessions.

Wonder if he did the string and choir arrangements himself, and if so just wanted to give it a go/prove he can do it?

this is fine but feels pointless. if it wasn't Sault i would have zero interest in it

yep, one listen was enough for me. i'll stop bashing it now and i'm happy if anyone enjoys it.

Well I'm on my second listen straight away. Lovely. I can hear all the above mentioned references and Steve Reich.

Also, when did this place start taking the piss out of people being passionate about music?

years ago, sadly. best ignored.

I thought that was the original point of ILM, and that it's been getting more positive vibes lately, lol

Re Jordan’s comment about the cost of the recording sessions: some of the choir parts are very audibly samples, which got me wondering if all of the orchestral and choral elements might have been assembled out of public domain sound samples (these do exist). Probably not, but it would raise the interest level of this project for me by several factors of 10 if that were the case.

when did this place start taking the piss out of people being passionate about music?

Big & Rich: Album of the Decade?