45ft Tide

Steve Cobby's one man renaissance/ cottage industry continues with the release of another album- Shanty Bivouac- an eight track opus. It came out a few weeks ago but I've waited to listen to it properly and let it get under my skin before writing about it. The album divides in two, the first half more uptempo and driven by beats and the second more reflective and chilled out. Opener Saddlebags sets the scene with some Steve's trademark funk, clipped guitars and Fender Rhodes, summer fun and drinks at the bar. Ten Bob Lino ramps it up with some faster electronic beats, skittering drums and sweeping strings. Whip And Tongue is back on the funky drums and bassline, with several different synth and organ parts playing off against each other. Everyone Is A Salesman slows the pace a little, squelchy bass and bleepy melody line before some lovely organ sings over the top. The second half, side B in a vinyl world kicks in with more clattering drums, pots and pans percussion and a flute. The final three tracks are the album's highlights for me, a perfectly paced trio, the sounds pitching down to the sundown Balearic/ ambient end of things- Pick Flowers Brewmaster is a gorgeous down tempo ride, a melody tugging at the heartstrings. It's followed by 45ft Tide, an acoustic guitar and some delay, a drumbeat that sounds like it was tapped out on a work surface, the atmospherics gradually building while the guitar picks away- I keep clicking back to the start with this one, over and over. The final song, as if that wasn't enough, is three and a half minutes of piano and reverb, a happy/ sad, reflective way to finish. The song's title- Life And Consciousness And Mind And Memory And Thought and All Creation- tries to pull it all together but the piano is more than capable of doing all of that on its own. 

You can buy it digitally at Bandcamp here. There's a vinyl pledge page here, which has already passed the number needed to go into production, but if you want  a copy on black wax (and this sounds very much an album that needs to be heard physically) you can still pledge through to the end of this week.