There’s an almost plausible strengths-are-also-their-weaknesses and vice versa argument you can make about Sault now. In keeping the circle tight, refusing to bow to anything that looks like a nano-trend and having almost no public profile, they remain enigmatic enough to always have our interest. But the flipside to all those things is that when you put the music front and centre, by definition it’s got to speak, a bar they raise up high just for themselves.
Arriving out of the ether as so much of their work in the past has, Chapter 1 in their words ‘Moves with patience and belief. Rhythm, breath, and silence sit side by side, creating a space that is reflective yet charged. There is warmth and expectation. A sense that something is gathering’.
That might not be the only clue to the album’s purpose, as it’s ten tracks steak by in just over thirty six minutes, but amongst the heavyweights joining Inflo and Cleo Sol are no less than Danger Mouse and former Janet Jackson hit makers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, making any suggestion this is a stub seem unfair.
Evidence of either Jam or Lewis is hard to hear, with the emphasis being on the soul, jazz and gospel phrasings familiar in their back catalogue. As it’s best – the title track, God Protect Me from My Enemies and Protector – Chapter 1 gives if that’s what it is an appetising taster for something with the feel of being worthwhile to come. Who knows what comes next for Sault though; a strength, but a weakness too.
You can read a full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 