The Soft Cavalry are a husband and wife pairing from Devon, cute.
This description wouldn't particularly interest me, but considering it has the
RACHEL GOSWELL tag, there's really no excuse not to check them out. Of course,
anything Slowdive related is gold, but any side project must be held to the
same standard as everything else out there - this is no Mojave 3 after all.
When a member of an acclaimed band veers off, they're usually almost always the
focal point. No fault of their own, that's just how media and PR works - think
Gorillaz (Simon Tong,) The Postal Service (James Tamborello,) nobody mentions
the equal. Fortunately, Goswell has paired with a talent in Steve Clarke.
The bearded session musician /
tour manager worked with Slowdive on their latest self-titled release, on
'additional vocal engineering' - thank you Wikipedia. Clarke takes more of a
central role in The Soft Cavalry. I'll take a punt at saying this is Clarke's
long term 'in progress' project, brought to life by Goswell rather than steered
by Goswell. Clarke, once of Dum Dums and more recently on film with Ricky
Gervais' Foregone Conclusion, isn't too dissimilar to The National's Matt
Berninger in vocal style. His sharp voice is a worthy partner to Goswell's
angelic instrument.
"Bulletproof" is a well produced electronic folk track,
but without the minimalist emotion fans of Slowdive / Mojave 3 are used to.
Sure, this is more folk in style, more akin to the work of King Creosote and
Jon Hopkins rather than Sun Kil Moon. But where The Soft Cavalry's last effort
"Dive" introduced a catchy psych folk outfit, "Bulletproof"
doesn’t quiet reach the previously set high expectation. Vocals are definitely
the standout, with percussion failing to resonate. It's the rawness felt in
"Dive", shared in Goswell's previous work that seems to be lacking
here.
The beauty of Slowdive wasn't the immense big
hitters like "When The Sun Hits" and "40 Days", but the
spacious layered compositions like "Erik's Song" and "Blue Skied
An' Clear" - this is where dense layers of reverb naturally collide to
produce the dream midst gazers often speak of. The gaps are often the best.
Naturally, this is where Goswell thrives... guitar drones, long drawn out
reverb, and her now revered backing vocal. The Soft Cavalry's self-titled debut
will be one to keep an eye on, but here’s hoping for more of the duel wielding
vocals and less of the flat percussion.
Edward Gibson
