CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX

A mere nine months after the release of their rather spectacular double album, '(Mankind) The Crafty Ape', Crippled Black Phoenix are back already with another platter of genuinely progressive music in the form of six track mini-album 'No Sadness or Farewell'. At a whopping three quarters of an hour, the "mini-album" branding is perhaps something of an understatement but that's what this has been marketed as. And just as there's nothing "mini" about this latest offering from CBP in duration, the content is, likewise, massive. They've once again created a series of affectively rousing soundscapes with an epic profundity that switches between, and fuses, the optimistic/pessimistic dichotomy they do ever so well, and all with a natural flow through the music's changing moods. Opening with 12+ minute instrumental number 'How We Rock', whether there be any metaphorical intent behind that name I am unaware but, musically, this is indeed a fine example of how CBP rock. Allowing themselves enough time for the track's motifs and melodies to breathe and develop into a fully realised progressive grandeur within its lengthy duration where melancholy meets buoyance, this is CBP at their most emotionally intense. Elsewhere, three tracks showcase new vocalist John E. Vistic (albeit he's only credited with "megaphone voice" and "monk voice" on 'Jonestown Martin') and, to be frank, I didn't instantly click with his voice. With some ever so slightly dissonant tones in his delivery, his style has a folky essence that maybe isn't an immediately obvious fit for the music. However, after a few listens, vocals and music begin to sound more congruous. 'What Have We Got To Lose?', along with the opening instrumental piece, is an indubitable highlight of the (mini-)album - ten and a half minutes of hauntingly melancholic bliss where a deceptively minimalist core adorned with Belinda Kordic's beautifully fragile voice transforms into a lengthy and emotionally charged instrumental outro, including Justin Greaves' effective use of a saw. And, once again, with recordings taking place in Lincolnshire's Chapel Studios, they've captured a warm, organic sound to all of the instrumentations and vocals. It's quite astonishing that CBP have returned so soon after '(Mankind)...' with another arsenal of high quality, genuinely progressive music but here it is. Buy it and relish it.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Cool Green Recordings

Album

NO SADNESS OR FAREWELL

Review by Mark Holmes

RUNNING TIME:

45:09

RELEASE DATE:

22nd Oct 2012

TRACK LISTING

1) How We Rock
2) Hold On (So Goodbye to All of That)
3) What Have We Got To Lose?
4) One Armed Boxer
5) Jonestown Martin
6) Long Live Independence

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

UK

"...a series of affectively rousing soundscapes with an epic profundity that switches between, and fuses, the optimistic/pessimistic dichotomy they do ever so well..."