My love for Caligula's Horse might be the least effectively stored secret on the weblog – it’s fairly possible they’re at present my favourite band on the planet. This has at all times been pushed by many issues however chief amongst them was in all probability the duo of the emotional influence of their music and the truth that I found it through the worst yr of my life. Again once I was affected by emotional devastation, the thematic make-up of The Tide, The Thief & River's Finish meshed precisely with what I used to be needing, offering me with energy and a willingness to go on. Since then, the band have solely sharpened their capability for incisiveness and storytelling, creating the explosive Bloom, the deep and shifting In Contact (my favourite album of theirs and one in every of my favourite albums of all time), and the uplifting Rise Radiant.
And now, they’re set to launch Charcoal Grace tomorrow, Friday the twenty sixth 2024. As Sam and I talk about within the interview you may try under, there's a kind of expectation from diehard Caligula's Horse followers of what this album must be; within the band's discography and its patterns, this album must be an expansive and bold idea album. Nevertheless, it isn’t that. Oh, to make sure there's a multi-part observe proper in its center and different songs on it undoubtedly match into that collection' temper and language. However it isn’t what In Contact was to Bloom, particularly an album that's a cohesive complete, translating itself right into a conceptual and grandiose journey. As an alternative, Charcoal Grace is Caligula's Horse most delicate and elusive album so far, an train within the ochre and coal tones that its identify (and canopy artwork) indicate. It’s chiaroscuro, a research in gentle and shadow, and what each of those modes reveal and obscure.
This begins on the extent of the music itself. Whereas opening observe "The World Breathes With Me" has a killer and traditional C-Horse riff, all staccato and chunky goodness, even that boisterous observe is extra muted and reserved than traditional openers for the band. And this reserved elusiveness is just enhanced because the album goes on, lastly culminating within the aforesaid 4 half observe. This work paints an image of a relationship falling aside, of individuals drifting into emotional and psychological distances, and of somebody preventing for a world that’s receding from them. Accordingly, it finds each Vallen and Jim Gray placing on a few of their extra delicate and "quiet" performances so far. Guitar riffs are "backwards" within the combine, with outstanding and redolent synth tones speaking a lot of the darkish colour of the observe. Gray is, as traditional, glorious however there are much less full throated screams (though these are there, particularly on the primary observe of the quarter, "Prey") and extra coaxing and twisting vocals and lyrics, inviting you into the psychological torment and battle of the primary characters.
Total, all the things is "much less"; the combination is extra laid again, the compositions take extra time to develop, and the lyrics and vocals are extra sly and beguiling. That is, in no way, a criticism but it surely does imply that Charcoal Grace "presents" itself much less to the listener, definitely when in comparison with the very "ahead" Rise Radiant. In actual fact, not solely is that this not a criticism, it’s an accolade. It takes actual braveness to step out of the "apparent" construction of your profession and shuck the chains of sample to make one thing that really communicates how you are feeling at a second in time. That’s, in some ways, the definition of the creative gesture. You’ll be able to hear extra about that in my interview with Vallen under; how this album was born from the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of affairs it thrust the band into; the way it signifies a unique strategy for them.
However you may also simply play the album; in true C-Horse style, whereas the discharge requires extra from you to get there, there’s a wealthy lodestone of ideas, feelings, pictures, and phrases (see what I did there) communicated as successfully with sounds as they’re with verbal intention. On account of the elevated subtleness in strategy, Charcoal Grace is extra of a grower than every other Caligula's Horse album however when you give it time, as I’ve, it should work its ephemeral roots into your coronary heart identical to all of their earlier albums. On the outset I’d additionally wish to say how promising this launch is for the way forward for the band, showcasing their skill to adapt and modify their sound whereas nonetheless hanging out to the identification which first triggered listeners like me to gravitate in the direction of them.
Charcoal Grace releases tomorrow, Friday the twenty sixth 2024. You’ll be able to head on over to InsideOut's bandcamp above to seize it.