Back in December we introduced Cici Arthur, the new collaboration between Toronto artists Joseph Shabason, Chris A. Cummings and Thom Gill. Taking the jazz, lounge and R&B-inflected pop Cummings became known for under the moniker Mantler and elevating it through Shabason and Gill’s compositional experitise, the project is both “a lesson in both cinematic scale and artistic control,” we wrote, “[giving] Cummings’ writing and vocals the grand, vivid backdrop they deserve.”
As if the trio wasn’t already stacked with talent, the debut Cici Arthur full-length Way Through, forthcoming on Western Vinyl, sees an array of guests add to the arrangements, with Owen Pallet, Nicholas Krgovich, Phil Melanson and Dorothea Paas among the notable names in the credits. “I wanted to make a really big sounding record for Chris, to really figure out a way to call in favors and make this album as grand as I possibly could,” Shabason explains. “I really wanted Chris to sing to fully mixed songs so that it was in the spirit of playing with a full band with all the energy of hearing an orchestra swell behind him with horns blaring,” he continues, “and I think this is the grandest approach to making a record that I have ever embarked on.”
Latest single ‘Cartwheels for Coins’ sees this ethos on full display, and highlights how grand need not equate to ostentatious. Because for all of the richness of the Cici Arthur sound, there’s a grounded quality to it too. A kind of attention to detail which allows each track to become its own little slice of life. Thematically, the song follows suit, pushing through the opulent dazzle of success and attention to the bittersweet other side. “Just another child of the stage,” is the repeated refrain, delivered in such a manner to remind us that the stage is still the stage long after the audience has emptied and the lights have gone down.
Watch the video below, which was shot by Luke Schuss and edited by Darragh Amelia:
Way Through is out on the 21st February via Western Vinyl and you can pre-order it now.
