PRICE:
$17.00
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Saturday Moon
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
GRCD 1029CD GRCD 1029CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
5/21/2021

"I first heard Chantal Acda sing and play the early 2000's in San Sebastian, Spain. I shared the bill that night with her group Sleeping Dog. After their set was finished and I had caught my breath, I thought of Sandy Denny and Cat Power and Van Morrison and every singer who had ever hijacked my tears and lifted me towards a light . . . Chantal and I eventually joined forces in a trio with drummer Eric Thielemans that we named Distance, Light & Sky . . . While Chantal's three previous solo albums were immaculately produced by two luminaries of the so-called 'post-classical' scene (Nils Frahm, Peter Broderick and Phill Brown respectively), Saturday Moon is a more feral child and is all the stronger for it . . . When I talked to Chantal about the album, she made it clear that this shift in tone and method was quite purposeful. She had decided to produce the album herself to protect the clarity and freedom of that vision . . . The first song and title track 'Saturday Moon' feels liberated and bursting with ideas from its first notes onward. Drummer Eric Thielemans supple groove sets up Congolese guitarist Rodriguez Vangama's gorgeous soukous flourishes which sets up the Pūwawau singers's soaring vocalizations on the refrain. It is a free-spirited mix of things, that maintains an elegant coherence because of Chantal's always assured songwriting, arranging and vocal presence. The album continues to spin and turn and upend preconceptions throughout its length. There are sonic surprises like Alan from Low's guitar synth on 'Disappear,' a song that ends in a tornado of electricity and also features backing vocals from Low bandmate Mimi. Atmospheric guitar legend Bill Frisell delicately converses with two tracks. Shahzad Ismaily of Tom Waits and Marc Ribot fame plays haunted six string fractures on one of the album's darkest songs "Conflict of Minds", together with Borgar Magnason (Sigur Rós, Björk). There are eighteen musicians in total on the album. Strings, horns, contrabass and piano are also woven into the kaleidoscopic, eclectic mesh . . . Through all of the diverse sonic shapeshifting and emotional ground covered on Saturday Moon Chantal may have at last discovered her natural musical home. One that includes many sympathetic collaborators but at the same time is not boxed in by other people's agendas and expectations..." --Chris Eckman, Ljubljana, January 2021