Tuesday 3 February 2009

Cymbient - Out On The Waves





The artist is : Cymbient
The album is : Out On The Waves
The format is : CD
It will be released on : 21st January 2008
The label is : Surk Recordings

Cardiff is seeing the kind of musical resurgence that only comes around once in a blue moon. Bands, promoters, festivals and events, all with a refreshingly eclectic background, have been emerging from Wales’ first city like wildfire over the last 12 months or so. The latest in that line are Cymbient.

The 5-piece have a background in Cardiff’s arts scene, playing experimental gigs at art events around the city, at Bristol’s Cube Cinema and The Green Man Festival. Gradually, through these experimentations, a band comprising members from places as far flung as Trinidad and Merthyr Tydfil, was born.

Out On The Waves is Cymbient’s 2nd album and sees the band indulging their love of late 60s, West Coast pop, Captain Beefheart and The Beach Boys. Despite being recorded in four studios (including Tox Box with their legendary vintage 70s desk), Out On The Waves has a remarkable consistency and is best consumed as a whole. It’s an album that exists happily out of kilter with any current scene, lost in its own laid back, harmony-heavy world.

The album opens with the slightly schizophrenic prog of Dress The Salad, which marries impossible falsettos with wandering harmonies, blues-y jams and angular work-outs. December Song’s pastoral, feel-good pop and Funky Little One’s playfulness lead into the immaculately stoned Byrds-style ballad, A Different Love, which takes Out On The Waves to new levels of horizontal loveliness. Why Are You Still Sleeping follows - a breezy, melodic ode to getting the best from life. Other highlights include the title track’s glittering 3-part harmonies, Truculent’s crunchy riffs and closer, Insightful Sound’s string-laden drama.

Cymbient is an easy world to get into but once you’re there, you won’t want to leave!

Listen to A Different Love here...



Cymbient - www.cymbient.co.uk/
Cymbient Myspace - www.myspace.com/Cymbient

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