‘Have you been sleeping on the job? Searching for the words for far too long? Wondering how you missed the call, all the nights you thought were yours.’
True story: If it hadn’t been for the second verse of The Price Is Right you wouldn’t be reading this now. This site wouldn’t have progressed the way it has and I definitely wouldn’t have found the confidence for the other creative endeavours I am currently undertaking if this album and it’s subsequent tour hadn’t arrived at exactly the right time to completely lift me and give me back some self belief.
I have always found an affinity with the writing of Cindy frontperson/leader Karina Gill. The insane hours I keep in my working life seem to tie in perfectly with her observations and insights into the madness that swirls all around us. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve fought back tears on the last train home after some lyric or moment hit that little bit deeper than the last time.
For this album, Cindy’s fourth, Gill is joined primarily by long standing keyboardist Aaron Diko, with a revolving cast of Bay Area friends/musicians helping to complete her vision. And what a vision it is.
Why Not Now? progresses with an almost cinematic quality. The opening title track is a tentative, minimalist introduction that presents like the opening scene of a movie before it cuts to its opening credits, which in this case are soundtracked by the mesmerising, free flowing instrumental Standard Candle #3. This long, stately piece sounds almost as if The Velvet Underground had stumbled upon a time travelling Martin Duffy and decided to cover something from Smiley Smile, at the wrong speed. Yes, that good.
Earthly Belonging raises the pace, rallying against our never ending and ultimately futile pursuit of stuff. From here we are left reeling as August breaks us slowly, helpless to do anything other than hang on Gill’s every word.
After Wednesday brings the first side to a close with its San Francisco street sounds and Sad Eyed Beatnik Kevin Linn’s unmistakably snaky lead guitar lines, we are lead skyward by Aaron Diko’s perfect introduction to A Trumpet On The Hillside. This song is an absolute wonder. Time itself seems to slow as Stanley Martinez’s beautiful viola drone combines with the most perfect of vocals to completely capture the heart and mind. When that opening keyboard melody returns at the very end…. well I still can’t find the words.
The aforementioned The Price Is Right features the wonderful bass playing of Kati Mashikian, who somehow manages to be both freely melodic and totally able to pin down the rhythm of the piece. Playboy follows and is incredibly moving in its starkness, with Gill’s unique ability to hit the very deepest of emotions with such few words at its absolute peak. This unadorned bedroom recording finishes with solitary whistling over the loneliest sounding guitar accompaniment, and somehow this seemingly off the cuff moment holds just as much power as the lyrics themselves.
The light relief of Et Surtout follows, where the assembled cast including Chime School mastermind Andy Pastalaniec and Gill’s Flowertown collaborator Mike Ramos provide a muscular backdrop to the Francoise Hardy borrowed lyrics. All that remains after that is the hymn-like bow of Standard Candle #4, where Inna Showalter adds her beautiful voice to this albums dreamlike end credit scene. Each time I reach the end I am as in awe as the very first time I heard it, gently blowing my mind on a long winding train journey, at the wrong end of a long day.
Whilst I realise this has been a very personal account of a very special record, I’d argue that this is what music is truly about. An artist so generously gives us their truth, which we the listener then grapple with in an attempt to make it fit with our own unique scheme of things. Every once in a while however, those two truths seem to align, and that is where the magic happens. Ultimately I guess, this music reminds me that it’s ok not to have all of the answers, as the real beauty is almost always to be found within the question itself.
Out now via Tough Love Records (UK) and Mt.St.Mtn (US.)
LISTEN/BUY/SHARE:
https://cindytheband.bandcamp.com/album/why-not-now
Further reading:
heavymetalkids.uk 