[rating=8.00]
The Cloud Cult journey has been a deep musical exploration of some of the most intense, complex, and unknowable aspects of what it is to be human. Their latest album, The Seeker, continues in that tradition, building beautifully and intelligently upon the existing catalog.
Released with a series of videos, The Seeker is at once exuberant and mature, feeling lighter, in many ways, than previous works, while still exploring some of the same topics: life, loss, love, “the great unknown,” as they put it, and time itself. Unsurprisingly – and thankfully – lead singer Craig Minowa retains builds upon his quirky lyrics that explore, often with almost child-like wonder, the wonder that is life. For example, on “Come Home,” accompanied by only the tinkling, plaintive notes of a piano, Minowa sings, “I gave my bones back to the trees so when you hear the breeze you know I’ll never leave you.”
Time is a notable theme in this album. Despite some obvious touches on the past (as in “Come Home,” above), it spends a good deal of time addressing the present, and the passage of time itself. Indeed, it seems to be excoriating people to realize they are living in the best time, the only time. In a technology-saturated world that seems to be moving faster, as many people experience daily, it often feels increasingly difficult to make time for – or even to identify what are – the most important things. On “Days to Remember,” Cloud Cult takes this on: “if I could change a single memory, I would call in sick and spend time with you…. Turn off the phone and throw away the clock and the endless things you think you have to do, the water is warm and the sun is shining and I just want to spend time with you.”\
Similarly, on “Time Machine Invention,” Minowa professes, “I’m a believer in mind over matter, and I’ve made my mind up to travel in time… restart the days… with so much time a-worrying, I forgot to live my life… I’ve finally solved the puzzle of my time machine invention… you see, in the future, this moment is the past, so if you give this moment your fullest attention, just keep going forwards, there’s no need for going back.” Perhaps we could all use the “life recorder to save the best things” that the band seeks to discover.
Musically, the band seems to have hit its stride in recent albums, culminating in The Seeker. The sound is mature, beautifully fleshed out with the band’s trademark mix of classical instruments. The vocals reflect the continued gelling of the band with Minowa’s fragile, emotive voice. As often with Cloud Cult, harmonies are used frequently and to great effect, helping to add emotional weight and tension.
The videos are, true to Cloud Cult form, at times intense explorations of heavy subjects, such as that for the the song “Chromatica,” in which two people experience wonder and great tragedy within moments – all in a beautifully filmed and even somehow ambiguous short.
For those unfamiliar with Cloud Cult, will serve as a great starting point to exploring this powerful, engaging band. For the rest of us, here’s more of what we’ve grown to love. And in either case, make the effort to catch Cloud Cult on the road now; their shows never disappoint and, given the emphasis on time and focusing on those most dear, one could easily imagine tours becoming less frequent as the Minowas and company focus on their children and their community.
One Response
Nice review. Album of the year so far