Cloud - Comfort Songs

  by Adrian Janes

published: 14 / 8 / 2013

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Review

Cloud are centred around the songs and voice of Tyler Taormina, accompanied by various fellow-members of New York’s Practice Room collective. Only 21 at the time this was recorded, this is already his third album. The album’s cover, with its handwritten track-listing, suggests a certain naivety, even tweeness. There are indeed elements of this in the lyrics (reflected in such titles as ‘Wish Little Fish’ and ‘Frére Jacques & Me’) and even more the singing. But there is also a good deal to enjoy. Sing-a-long harmony vocals predominate on opener ‘Cars & Its Autumn’. Like much of the material, it’s essentially a low-key ballad based on piano accompanied by muted guitar, bass and drums. Only a few lines are sung by Taormina alone, in a plaintive whine that confirms the wisdom of surrounding his voice with others. The second half of the song is a melancholy, repetitive piano melody joined by equally downbeat trombone and choir. It both highlights one of the album’s strengths (Taormina’s expressive piano playing) and, in its excessive length, something of a tendency to self-indulgence that is later found at its worst in the near ten-minute ‘Desperation Club’. ‘Authorless Novel’ begins with piano and Jon Davies’ chiming guitar, building its atmosphere with splashing cymbals and saxophone. This longish instrumental introduction is succeeded by shrill singing that is truly a strain. Taormina sounds as if he is rushing to pack in more words than the melody allows, sapping breath from an already weak voice. Similarly ‘Wish Little Fish’ has a touching tune with a lovely piano break that ripples like a stream, but in singing of woefulness the voice edges dangerously close to simply being woeful. ‘Boy Sees Mirror’ epitomises the album’s extremes. It’s the most lively track, with a jubilant guitar introduction and energetic drumming. But the singing is at its gabbling worst and finally degenerates into straight-out yelling, which lets down the music and means once again that the song doesn’t attain its full potential. Of course, screaming can sometimes be just what a performance needs - here it’s more of a throwing-in of the towel. By contrast, ‘Stomach Pit’, its tune somewhat reminiscent of ‘Amazing Grace’, works rather better, most of the singing being undertaken by Samira Winter who is joined later on by Taormina to make an effective duet. The characteristic foundation of piano and restrained guitar/bass/drums is enhanced by the soaring violin of Irene Alvarado as the song builds towards its conclusion, where the voices sound as if coming from a distant church. ‘Frére Jacques’ is a pleasant enough ballad, but the remainder of the album is where some of the strongest material can be found, at least in patches. ‘Blurry & Bright’ ambles along pleasingly, the gentle interplay of piano and guitar recalling Fleet Foxes, as Taormina strikes an aptly wistful note. Then the loosely rocking style of the first half of ‘Mother Sea’, in which the caterwauling reaches new depths, is largely swept away by a much more entrancing second half of powerful drums, crashing piano chords and feedback that create mesmerising waves of sound. It’s followed by the album’s high point, ‘A Light Wish Weighs a Lot’. Introduced by Alvorado’s violin, the song itself is a beautiful blend of massed voices and brass, its poignancy increased by a heartfelt mandolin solo. The fact that it ends oddly on a droning note while a voice intones “Hell is forgetting to remember what’s important” is forgivable - it’s got the sweet sadness of a Brian Wilson song, just one from the ‘Smile’ period. ‘Desperation Club’ moves at a funereal pace as piano, guitar and bass play stately phrases. Somewhat like ‘Mother Sea’, much of it gives the players a chance to stretch out and create a mood, although in this case there is too much repetition, with only flecks of guitar and touches of bassy synth to maintain a declining amount of interest over several minutes as it slows to a dead halt. The album concludes with ‘Halley’s Comet’. Unlike the rest of the album, here Taormina’s piano playing caresses the higher end of the keyboard while he pitches his voice that bit lower. Combined as it is with Russell Ridulfo’s passionate trumpet, cool jazz guitar and brushed drums, this is another great ballad which, after all the pain expressed before, transcends it to say “Though this life is recycled/Now the turn/It is mine/It’s my time.” ‘Comfort Songs’ shows Tyler Taormina to be a talented songwriter and musician surrounded by sympathetic musicians. His voice unfortunately often undermines the performances - I imagine he is going for plaintive, but he as often achieves only painful. The fact that when his voice is combined with others or he lets someone else take the lead the emotional effect is much stronger should be food for thought. What a Diane Krall might do with ‘Halley’s Comet’ for instance would be fascinating. That he is in his early 20s should also not be forgotten - this album may one day be looked back on as a large clue to his potential.

Track Listing:-

1 Cars & It's Autumn
2 Authorless Novel
3 Wish Little Fish
4 Boys Sees Mirror
5 Stomach Pit
6 Frére Jacques and Me
7 Blurry & Bright
8 Mother Sea
9 A Light Wish Weighs a Lot
10 Desperation Club
11 Halley's Comet

Band Links:-

http://cloudmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/musicbycloud/

Label Links:-

https://audioantihero.wordpress.com/
http://audioantihero.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/audioantihero
https://twitter.com/audioantihero
https://www.youtube.com/user/antiherov