by Raquel Pinheiro
Any Day is The Sea and
Cake first album in six years, written and recorded after bass player Eric
Claridge left the band. Now a trio: Sam Prekop (vocals,
guitar), Archer Prewitt (guitar,
piano, vocals) and John McEntire (percussion,
drums) - live Doug McCombs (Brokeback
Eleventh Dream Day, Tortoise) plays bass.
Claridge may no
longer be part of the band, but The Sea and Cake sound remains recognizable,
even if in Any Day synthesizers were hardly used, guitar and organs being favoured.
There is also a sunny, light, summery tone and lightness that is not always
found in their albums, some of them more winter leaning.
A
good example is the title track, a delicious pop song, highlighted by Paul Von Mertens’
flute and clarinet, punctuated by Nick Macri’s double-bass. Another the rosy bubble gum flavoured I Should
Care. These Falling Arms, in the same vein as the title track one more piece of
happy warmness. Archer Prewitt’s voice is pure delight in these three songs.
However,
summer can, at times, have rainy, grey or chilly days. So does Any Day. Into Rain
is like walking under gentle falling water on the seaside when the sun is
setting; Occurs a misty Atlantic early morning and Paper Widown the portrait of
someone watching the beach and sea because a storm broke and inside is cozy and
warm.
The
Sea and Cake probably never had an album that would define their name so well.
Any Day has sea and cake in equal doses, making it a gentle, refined pop album splashed
with ambient tones that provides a rich imagetic canvas.
The Sea and Cake play
at Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisboa, on the 27th.
(Thrill Jockey, 2018)
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