Sault - What's the story?

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

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