The scene here in Southend had been a little bleak since Covid hit if I’m honest. Alternative pub, hub and venue The Railway finally closed its doors after years of struggle, and with it seemingly died a thousand indie pop dreams. Local labels stopped releasing music and bands stalled and splintered as we, like everybody else on the planet, bunkered down and took stock.
I’m delighted to say that this enforced retreat seems to at last be showing the green shoots of recovery, as a new kind of alternative pathway begins to forge through our City. Regular venue nights have begun showcasing wonderful fresh ideas, Record Shops are hosting live in-stores again, and new bands are forming from old embers, with Jazz, folk and electronica as prevalent as the buzz and jangle of electric guitars.
Masal, formed by keys wizard Al Johnson and harpist Oz Simsek following a chance meeting in Leigh-On-Sea, have been releasing music since the pandemic era and this latest album, recorded in collaboration with current Ride and former Oasis man Andy Bell for Sonic Cathedral, ties in beautifully with the new wave of sounds coming out of the Southend area at present. Bell came on board for this project after a joint gig in Chelmsford revealed shared musical ground that required further exploration, and the fruits of that exploration have now arrived in the form of Tidal Love Numbers.
As someone who is currently existing on a musical diet of mostly indie, shoegaze and dreampop with regular doses of Jazz as a palette cleanser, this album has hit at exactly the right time. It’s the shoegaze/astral jazz mash-up my often nocturnal listening habits have been calling out for.
The first half of Tidal Love Numbers leans heavily into the ambient, with a new world for us to seek solace in seemingly created before our very ears. Bell’s unmistakable guitar textures provide the air that moves in and around Johnson and Simsek’s unique musical telepathy, moving us subtly skyward as we head towards the albums second half.
Third track Tidal Love Conversation In That Familiar Golden Orchard introduces a beautiful falling bass line, which is joined halfway through by a spacey, rolling groove for the most song-oriented section of the album. After keeping us under its spell for nine or so blissful minutes we are left with the stunning interplay of A Pyramid Hidden By Centuries Of Neon Green Undergrowth, during which we are treated to a meditative musical dialogue between the three players, bringing us to the albums conclusion.
If guitars are your thing and you’re looking for a route towards the kosmische then Tidal Love Numbers could well be your gateway. If you’re already there you’ll be drawn in by this albums fresh approach to long established ideas. A triumph then, whichever way the tide carries you.
Out now via Sonic Cathedral.
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