Epic electronic psychedelia
Who They?
They are Jarrod Gosling, one half of Sheffield’s brilliant purveyors of electronic music explorations I Monster, and vocalist Cecilia Fage, who also lends her pipes to Matt Berry & The Maypoles.
Why Cobalt Chapel?
Imagine Stereolab with the BPMs cranked up and Rick Wright on keyboards, and you have some idea of what to expect from Cobalt Chapel’s new ‘Mountain’ EP, particularly the title track. As it heats up, it leaps off into fiery sacred chant territory and crash edits itself into 6/4 waltz, and then it starts to turn inside out just before your head explodes. ‘Bohemia’ employs a waltz quickstep with lush layers of Fage’s voice floating over the top, creating a kind of easy listening acid trip, tricked out with ear-baffling production manoeuvres.
Tell Us More…
Cobalt Chapel’s expansive sound is achieved with Fage’s seductive voice, inventive drums played with muscular purpose and a veritable phalanx of processed analogue organ tech– Hammond, Farfisa, Vox, Philicorda, Elka, Ace Tone, Wem – all the battered vinyl covered gems you could once get for cheap in junk shops but now fetch many hundreds on eBay. They set off folk memories of early Pink Floyd cuts like ‘Cirrus Minor’ and if you know what I’m talking about, you’ll really dig Cobalt Chapel. Check out the organ frenzy mid-point in the epic 11-minute ’Canticle’ for much freak-out stylings, before it positively bursts into a glorious distorto mush and yet more celestial choral action from Fage. The band are working on their second album. We await with baited breath.
‘Mountain’ is out on Klove/Republic Of Music
