Every so often an album comes along that I find myself leaning on. Sure, every month or so brings new music and short-term obsessions, but on rare occasions an album perseveres for months and years, developing a sense of importance. Albums like Hospice by The Antlers, White Lighter by Typhoon and Spectral Dusk by Evening Hymns have not grown old, even after a silly number of repeated listens. It’s too early to say if this year will bring one of those gems, but it’s only July and there are already a few candidates (see my Strand of Oaks review for starters).
The other candidate is a bit of a cheat. Unplug is a live album from Cloud Cult, recorded at a sold-out show at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. “We dug through the Cloud Cult discography,” frontman Craig Minowa describes after the first track, “and picked out the songs that had the philosophical messages that we want to be putting out there right now.” That essentially means that they dig out the jewels in their back catalogue and shine them up with brand new orchestrations so that they become even more precious.
I’ve been a big fan of Cloud Cult for a long while, from their often bizarre avant-garde beginnings to their more hopeful recent albums such as Light Chasers and Love. Apart from being one of the most musically innovative bands around, and one of the most experimental (their live shows often have people painting on-stage during the show), they are also pioneers in terms of ethical and moral ways to progress in the music business. Rejecting labels in favour of self-publishing, the band were practicising green methods of releasing and touring their music back when that sort of thing should have started (the band’s merch is all postconsumer recycled or made from organic materials, they have planted thousands of trees to absorb the band’s CO2 output, and they donate renewable energy project such as those that generate revenue on Native American reservations). In other words, these are good people, folks trying to do it right.
Following the death of his two year-old son Kaidin, Minowa and his wife went through some very tough times. “There was a very, very low point, where I really wanted to follow our son and find out where he was.” Unplug is a collection of songs that charts their ascension from these depths, drawing heavily from the post-Aurora Borealis Cloud Cult catalogue that is based around/born from an epiphanic moment described by Minowa during the performance: “I all of the sudden felt this light around me and heard voices as clear as day… it became apparent that… for all of us, there is a much bigger calling for everybody. We just have to listen.”
I don’t want to write too much about the songs themselves. I’ve tried a few times and trying to put my feelings into words makes the whole thing seem clumsy and saccharine. Just let it be known that the album is a special one, and songs like ‘Breakfast With My Shadow,’ ‘Running With The Wolves,’ ‘Chemicals Collide,’ ‘Chain Reaction’ and ‘You Were Born’ all feel important. I think that a pair of songs around halfway through sum up the record perfectly:
‘We Made Up Your Mind For You’:
“We made up your mind for you last night,
so you can decide that you’ll be alright.
It’s no small trick to beat-beat
the pessimistic motherfucker sleeping inside your head.
Do you believe in you?
Cuz no one else can do that for you.
Are you ready yet? Are you ready yet?
you don’t want to hear it.”
‘That Man Jumped Out The Window’
“It’s the thoughts that you feed
It’s the habits you need
It’s the things that you don’t think that you’re seeing
When you’re really seeing.
That man jumped out the window
Come back in the window.It’s your tone in my mouth
It’s the things that we’re too scared to talk about
It’s the feeling that you’re dreaming
(You’re not really dreaming)”
In a time where irony and skepticism are valued above all else, Cloud Cult are a breath of fresh air (it could be argued that the act of appearing intelligent/sophisticated/worldly (i.e. not naive) is the biggest drain on the time and energy of young people today). Their music is forthright, their positivity and hope border on something of a spiritual level, something which could leave them open to ridicule. That their songs and ideas don’t come off as New Age-y clap-trap is a testament to 1) how much we (or at least I) want to hear/identify with what they are saying, and 2) the sense of authenticity that surrounds their work. This is something that is heightened with the Unplug arrangements and recordings. It is clear, at least to me, that the band fundamentally believe what they are playing. You get the impression they would be singing these songs even if nobody was listening.
You can buy Unplug from the Cloud Cult store page. Be sure to check out the original albums too. (And if you, like us, aren’t from the US, think about sticking with the digital download. Shipping = carbon emissions).