Sault - What's the story?

Definitely more of a disco thing going on here, I'm digging it.

Slaps so hard! This fuckin band

how is this real?

this is brilliant!

I'm surprised because the bandname "Sault" always made me think this was a sludge-metal band or something!

I believe there is a metal band of some sort called
Sault

oh wow "strong" is such a great start

this is fantastic but especially the percussion!!! wow

I had this on a loop for hours last night while I was working, different songs leapt out at me each time through. Another great album.

Not only are they turning these out at remarkable pace but none of these records are even front-loaded imo. If anything I find myself latching more onto the tracks towards the end of them. Great strings on 'Scary Times'.

think this is pretty easily their best yet

'Untitled (Rise)' definitely feels... bigger, more "widescreen," less minimalist than earlier work (even than the first 'Untitled (Black Is)'), but without losing the edge and the spirit that makes Sault above-and-beyond almost anything else. It's polished without being "glossy".

On first couple listens last night, there were places where I was smiling and also felt like crying at the brilliance of what Inflo & Co are achieving. Feels like an immense celebration--and also synthesis--of African and Afrodiasporic music and collective strength. I want Sault to be the soundtrack of a radical reawakening of commonality between Black people everywhere and the breaking down of white hegemony... But even if it can't be that, they certainly have been one of the brightest lights in difficult days.

It's just unimaginable that they've created these four almost-perfect (yet highly eclectic) and singular albums in less than 24 months--especially these 24 months. AND that Inflo also played a huge role in shaping Little Simz' 'Grey Area,' Michael Kiwanuka's 'Kiwanuka,' and Cleo Sol's 'Rose In the Dark' during the same time! In 2019, he literally made 4 of my top 5 albums. And in 2020, 3 of my top 10...

I think this might be their best one yet. I’d probably rank them as:

Rise
5
7
Black is

But I love them all.

Loving the diy disco/Off the Wall feel so far (while keeping that dubby minimal Sault thing)

Feel very strongly that The Black and The Gold should have been the closing track. That thing is gorgeous.

wow absolutely loving this and something always held me back on the previous releases (I did like the Cleo Soul)

Yeah this is incredible. Best one yet and it is a very high bar. "Strong", "Fearless", "I Just Want to Dance", "The Beginning & the End" and "Free" are my highlights so far.

'7' remains closest to my heart--their most perfect front-to-back distillation. But even on just a couple listens, I'll put 'Untitled (Rise' up there with '5,' and 'Untitled (Black Is)' isn't far behind. All of them toward the very top of my favorite music of recent years, which have been my favorite years for new music since... the early 90s.

They have quickly become one of my favorite bands in years. I knew ‘5’ was something special when I first heard it but I wasn’t expecting they’d be 3 more albums in the same ballpark of quality and with such a short span between them.

Not a comparison in sound and this might sound completely off, but they remind me of Stereolab in how they seem to extract influence from some of the best sounds of previous decades into a charming sound of their own. While Stereolab seemed to extract mainly sounds of 60s and early 70s, Sault sound more indebted to the 70s and early 80s.

I can see the Stereolab comparison, in terms of their ability to synthesize/recall forebears without directly mimicking/reviving anyone. And in terms of being prolific-but-quailty.

Difference being I think Sault draws on a much wider musical realm--and drawing globally, and spanning at least 50s R&B, early 60s girl groups/soul/highlife, late 60s/early 70s funk/Afrobeat/Zamrock/Tropicalia/reggae, late 70s post-punk/disco/dub, early 80s boogie/pop, late 80s-mid-90s hip-hop, and much beyond...

well said moka. and definitely agreed about them being one of the best acts to come along in quite some time. i think the last "new" band that came out that i liked this much was king krule and that was nearly a decade ago!

new one is still too fresh, but after one listen it's just as good as anything else they've done.

Ha, yeah, there's certainly seems to be a Stereolab balance of being guided by a strong manifesto but without overthinking the actual music.

Just echoing what everyone else has said so far - this is fantastic and connecting with me much more than their previous one earlier in the year

so glad to have found this, wonderfully minimal, love the percussion recording

so glad to have found this, wonderfully minimal, love the percussion recording

― naked and sexually active alien (rip van wanko),

If you like minimal, wait till you hear '7' and '5'!

Don't know if they'll outdo 5 and 7, but I think Rise flows a bit better than Black Is, which drags a little.

Hey, look at that, it's Ned Raggett:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/covid-coping-41751129

ned otm, as usual.

Per Ned's thoughts--for sure, the "romance" and "mystery" of Sault has an appeal--but I view it as less of an defining alluring gimmick (not per se a bad thing, i.e. Daft Punk), and more of something that actually demystifies the Artist and in effect focuses attention on the music itself. (I admit, I've come to see Inflo as a heroic figure, personally, because he's touched so much of my favorite music these last two years--but I still barely have any idea who he is, so even then it's a musically-rooted appreciation).

So for all the mystery, what I love about how warmly Sault has been received by the listening public (seeming to transcend just-us-geeks) is that the reception focuses on the music, and how simply fantastic and singular it is, and how "of the moment" important but also "of the movement" important, and of human existence important. And also maybe the unfathomable rapidity with which so much great music has been created/released. They're a word-of-mouth (thus far) act if there ever was one in the internet age, and the words shared are mostly about "holy shit, you have to hear this". The content is far more significant in their success than the packaging, as it were--which is remarkably refreshing.

(An aside: Sault one of very few acts in my life that have inspired me to just... buy copies for people I think *might* like them (others: Modern Lovers, Arthur Russell, Roy Kinsey). But I have--probably half a dozen times for each album, on Bandcamp days, and I'm pretty certain everyone has been hooked and further spread the word themselves.)

The biggest romance of the mystery for me is wondering who the hell the drummer is and how they're being recorded.

My strong suspicion is Inflo on drums

"I Just Want To Dance" is a fire AF

lol not sure what i was typing there but it's the jam

xxps i've been taking that for granted since 5? sure thing he's the drummer here, right?

I’m assuming the Cleo Sol album has the same credits (this would mean they have actually created not two, but three outstanding albums this year) and Inflo is credited on bass, drums, piano, additional vocals and production on that album. I’d heavily bet on Inflo being the bass/drums behind every Sault song, as to how he records them we’d have to ask him.

What an amazing record. Free might be their best song (they are approaching a dozen best songs so far) and The Black and Gold is heartbreaking.

One thing that I find weird is that I can't hear the Cleo Sol voice from her solo album in these songs at all, for the most part. Are my ears broken?

I know it's churlish to complain but the two spoken word tracks on this will be deleted from the playlist once I buy this. No Black Violins in London at least has drama (and would have made a good instrumental) but You know it Ain't just sounds like someone very sarcastic complaining at you. I get it but no way do I want to listen to it.

this album is approaching 1000 purchases on bandcamp, which is very impressive for a first day of sales. On the other hand, there are ILXors who should be all over this thread and it's weird that they aren't here, tbh!

Am I the only one that finds it strange that Pitchfork have never reviewed a Sault record? The band have never even been mentioned on the site. I know Pitchfork doesn't have the clout that it had 5-10 years ago but I still find it weird, to put it generously.

would love to discover that pfork reached out to them early on and they told them to fuck off. so pfork being the bitchy little bubble that it is is throwing a temper tantrum by ignoring them.

sorry, writing sault fanfic.

Pitchfork bothers me a lot less than it did in the late 90s through 2000s when its writers cared a lot more about being "creative" and they mostly only covered indie rock. But I will say, they still seem to be pretty personality-oriented in their reviews and news coverage--so I guess a group (?) with only one explicitly known member who is himself still mostly unknown as far as biography/personality goes wouldn't be of much interest?

I was just thinking last night I'd love to see a good writer tackle all four albums (with a discussion of other Inflo work) in a single large review? I don't know who'd be a great candidate--I don't actually read a lot of criticism. But I bet ILMers would know who should pitch it...

Inflo as a Prince/Stevie styled composer, building the tracks up from his own rhythm tracks makes a lot of sense for these sounds.

this comment on Petridis's review in The Guardian:

R**watcher*d

It’s a work rate that would seem remarkable at any point in pop history, but feels positively astonishing today,

Having just listened to the exquisite and excoriating Wildfires I don't see anything remarkable about the work rate. Anyone moderately acquainted with ProTools, Logic or Cubase could knock that out in an afternoon, including tea breaks.

"exquisite and excoriating" being a quote from the review being replied to. In his defence the guy did post a track of his own and it was not that bad, actually.

but Wildfires is exquisite and excoriating and Sault are working at quite a pace, it may have been made in an afternoon, who knows?. But it's an incredible SONG in the first place!

I mean, yeah--who cares how long it takes? Real craftperson artist can be efficient and still achieve great things (like, uh, Sault).

This review in Variety is good:

https://variety.com/2020/music/reviews/saults-untitled-rise-album-review-1234775193/amp/

Am I the only one that finds it strange that Pitchfork have never reviewed a Sault record? The band have never even been mentioned on the site. I know Pitchfork doesn't have the clout that it had 5-10 years ago but I still find it weird, to put it generously.

uh, they knew about them the whole time honestly!

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/sault-fearless/

Previous Sault albums (5 and 7) are back in stock apparently, e.g. at Sounds of the Universe.

ha! there you go!

xp

I think the new one might be my favorite of the four. Their sound is incredible (seriously, crank this on big speakers if you have access)

I'm glad you like them, ET!

Anyone moderately acquainted with ProTools, Logic or Cubase could knock that out in an afternoon, including tea breaks.

This is one of the most ridiculously dumb statements i have read all year.

i binge listened all four albums last night. all are great but i thnk '5' might still just clinch it for me.