Sault - What's the story?

Iirc excluding strings almost everything you hear on Sault and Cleo Sol’s albums is Inflo.

That’s the other thing though, it’s not really a mystery when everyone knows who is running the show.

i got the impression there were likely a bunch of session players from the whole scene around inflo involved

I envision Inflo laying laying down the drums and bass himself a lot of the time. They’re so distinctively plain and raw, they have that quality of a multi-instrumentalist songwriter like Prince rather than session player expertise.

The 3 tracks Inflo produced and cowrote with Adele do have credits and Inflo is credited as playing bass, guitar, electric guitar, drums, piano, organ, percussion, wurlitzer, handclaps.

The only additional musicians credited are Chris Dave on drums, bongo, percussion and David Campbell for strings.

So, I think if it’s mostly inflo doing that on a high profile project Cleo and him are pretty much all the permanent Sault team with some guests here and there.

i can believe that inflo plays a lot of stuff on the sault albums but it's not just him.

the full credits for cleo sol's mother are available and there's more than just inflo on it (he's credited with keys/bass/backing vocals) and it mostly seems to have been recorded as a band.

going through the credits:
kadeem clarke (keys) - he has writing credits on a few sault and little simz tracks, has played on michael kiwanuka and little simz albums, and toured with little simz
michael jablonka (guitar) - kiwanuka's live guitarist
rosie danver (cello & string arrangements) - she's done the string arrangements for a lot of inflo-produced album as well as kanye, adele and many other big names
nathan allen (drums) - he's played on sault records (https://www.saynathan.com/resume) as well as with little simz and kiwanuka and seems to be an in-demand session drummer
alex bonfanti (bass) - kiwanuka's live bassist
graham godfrey (percussion) - kiwanuka's live drummer, played on kiwanuka and little simz albums, also confirmed to have played on sault records (https://www.serendeepity.net/product/pigeon-yagana-ep/)
lewis wright (percussion) - has played with little simz and michael kiwanuka

so just by going through that i was able to confirm a few more names involved in sault beyond clarke (who i was already aware of from the writing credits)

and i forgot to list that rosie danvers has done arrangements for sault too - air, aiir, untitled (rise), and one other (probably untitled (black is) but i can't find confirmation)

Yeah you might be on to something. Strings are definitely guests (unless he's using some really good synth patches) - I guess eventually we'll find out.

Nathan Allen's resume is very impressive btw

the strings would just be danvers' string section, wired strings

this reminds me that it's well past time for another michael kiwanuka album; I discovered his last one kind of late but fuck that is an amazing album.

yeah i sure hope he has something new soon, i also discovered his last two fairly late but they're fantastic

Heaven out next week x

— Cleo (@cleosol) August 19, 2023

oooh!!!

It’s that time of the year again!

lol what happened there i wonder

where?

whatever "heaven" was didn't come out last week

Two years since we released mother into the world, thank you for embracing me, and seeing me, writing my truth is sometimes difficult, but it’s freeing, and having you support me pushes me to be brave 💖 pic.twitter.com/ZC9yE0DX2i

— Cleo (@cleosol) August 19, 2023

whatever "heaven" was didn't come out last week

i missed hearing anything about it so was oblivious.

It's out today. Feels relatively inessential in comparison to her other albums on first listen, but was pleasant enough.

Honestly, Cleo Sol in lighter-than-air low-key mode is just what I need right now...

definitely much lower-key than her previous albums but it's still gorgeous and there's a lot to like here

Idk but this album cured my hangover

Yeah, this is absolutely gorgeous

what is out?

new cleo sol album, heaven

oh ok i see. everything on the sault thread has to be so cryptic!

https://x.com/cleosol/status/1704909623340183837?s=46&t=sn6lKgL5fqIUPSTSTL89kQ

(tweet from cleo sol saying gold out on friday)

Cleo Sol getting in on the Sault profusion magic:

https://www.twitter.com/cleosol/status/1705237268045181230

Wait what

Heaven is good. Probably too slight but honestly Inflo and her make such a good team. Everything sounds perfect, it’s a breeze.

surprise second cleo sol album out today!

i heard a rumor that all the music on Sault albums is played by Banksy, Damon Albarn, and Emma Bunton in a banana suit. or wait, maybe that was Nicky Wire in an Emma Bunton suit...

gold is pretty much heaven pt. 2, similarly low-key but it's so lovely

Yeah. Think the album will reward repeated listening but Life Will Be one of the highlights on first listen

Haven't listened to Gold yet, but digging Heaven. Great vibes, little Joni-like in places.

"golden child" is hitting a sweet spot lately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-spq4pVW_Dw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqXO2mmESg0

A live show coming

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0EMqC5NooI/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Bets on it being a performance similar to Gorillaz? shadows behind screens

Or Inflo drumming with no lights on him.

long preview of a new song here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0WHnqxtTaL/

presumably from the new album (titled acts of faith?) they're performing live on the 14th: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0oeK4LtNme/

they're also teasing future shows: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0odyS1NO_-/

they're going to perform 5 in new york, nine in london, black is in los angeles, rise in canada, 11 in germany, air in paris, and earth in africa. guessing they haven't fully figured out the details yet lol

Omg clips of this show look amazing!

Bets on it being a performance similar to Gorillaz? shadows behind screens

looks like there was a bit of this but also they all had their faces covered?

doesn't seem like they played new material but it appears to have been a real production, wow

i hope someone recorded the whole thing

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fk15f1xglic6c1.png%3Fwidth%3D3007%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D28251532747f32eca6494c161b91a7bcc958f193

seems like they played an orchestral set, then the new album acts of faith, and then a set covering their entire career, wow. "fear no man" might be the little simz song i guess? no idea what "ever so lonely" or the africa section are.

the song they previewed here: https://www.instagram.com/saultglobal/reel/C0WHnqxtTaL/ seems to be "act 6 - lessons"

Ok wasn’t expecting this setup for the concert. I’m so jealous for those who went it looks like a great setlist and a really cool vibe

https://x.com/fakeHARTHUR/status/1735382279923306670?s=20

the whole thing seems to be ridiculously ambitious

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C02OilBI0Yz/%0A%0AHow%20are%20they%20not%20losing%20money?%20For%20the%20amount%20of%20audience%20%C2%A3100%20per%20person%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20seem%20to%20cover%20the%20insanity%20of%20the%20set%20+%20crew,%20orchestra,%20choreographed%20performers%E2%80%A6.