Sault - What's the story?

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?

I just assume the orchestral and choir stuff is just Inflo and Chloe playing a midi keyboard on a laptop. Shit sounds pretty good and real these days.

Re: my comment above about loving their boldness - I like that they are obviously doing what they want to do and aren’t worried at all about what people will think. I don’t mean that I think they are trolling people or anything. Someone concerned with making money or developing their career would not release an album like this, and I admire them for not caring about that stuff.

Cleo whoops

yeah, don't get me wrong: new album is whatever, but they've still got my undivided attention.

Agreed. It's not that I think every track of every record is equally brilliant. But I love that they are confident in their vision as something with longevity, confident enough to release albums that won't be to everyone's liking but that may really hit home with some, and that will live in a body of work that people will be discovering and assessing for a long time to come, almost entirely through word-of-mouth.

Cynicism about them (not as much expressed here, more elsewhere) as somehow contrived and "brand oriented" seems super off. Obviously mystique can help move records, but that kind would usually be highly cultivated (a la Daft Punk, whom I love no less for it). Call me naive, but on the scale Sault have been operating for years now (that is, "big on Bandcamp, your favorite's fave" bit hardly rating in the Big Pop world) I'm persuaded the mostly-anonymous, certainly no interviews or social media presence speaks again to confidence in the music to speak to people for itself. I think it has, and will continue to do so even when they all move on from the project, likely into more traditional spotlights.

Meant to also say specifically: I admire they're confident enough to release a choral-orchestral album that will probably be too "weird" for many of those with no frame of reference, and too staid and maybe even obvious for those versed in similar work; but that might make a good chunk of folks interested in the approach who might not have been before.

And yeah, if this was done with VSTs... Damn.

Glad if anyone digs this, and props to them for following their muse, but I feel like I went to the ice cream store and Sault was like, “Sorry, no ice cream today, all we’re serving up is pretzels,” and I was like, “You do you, but Phil Glass’s place down the street does better pretzels. I’ll pass.”

hope you can get your money back

Sounds like someone bought some new plugins for Logic.

this is fine for what it is but not something i'll want to come back to

I wouldn't be surprised if this was all VST's. I don't think this is an attempt to confound expectations as much as showcasing what they can else they can do, maybe with an eye on a movie soundtrack/t.v. music gig. It can be a very lucrative platform to get into, especially when you are a prodigious studio producer and a creative, technical vocalist that seem to be reticent about performing live shows. I might be wrong but aren't Cleo and Inflo now husband and wife or partners with kids? moving in this direction makes sense to me, given their talents and options.

given that this is basically a homage to David Axelrod, i think i will be listening to this a lot more than anything else for a while.