Sault - What's the story?

Album is here - https://soundcloud.com/saultglobal/sets/sault-5

Just from the first track I can detect traces of ESG, The Jellies, The Dixie Cups & Holland–Dozier–Holland era Motown if it had been produced by Norman Whitfield. The production is timeless but state of the art at the same time. Ace songwriting.

My inner cynic reckons with the smart low key underground anti-marketing it is going to end up that Sault are some long time music business insiders, the album will eventually get a full release on say XL with a massive marketing push and it'll end up being thee essential album of 2020. Or not. But whatever, it doesn't detract from it being a great record.

I hate that the vinyl sold out like in a day and I was constantly checking if a release date was published. The whole willful obscurity of the project is frustrating but I guess it’s working. I heard Danger Mouse was involved but that might be fake.

Music wise I posted in the songs of summer 2019 thread that I absolutely love the combination of northern soul vocals + krautrock styled drums.

i think vinyl is still available from here - https://www.sault.global/store/sault-5

It's groovy, but I'm not really hearing the ace songwriting.

i guess it comes down to what kind of song writing you dig?

Xpost: Huh that’s weird last time I checked they were sold out! I guess they restocked, thank you for the heads up, already ordered.

People on discogs were selling them for twice or thrice the price which I thought was ridiculous as a second print was surely around the corner.

I see two sellers still have it for 50 pounds.

Oh I see there’s snippets of a new album called 7 on their instagram account and it also sounds great. Seriously who are behind this project? I can’t find anything on them only name I see attached is Dean Inflo Josiah which is also very obscure on info and... maybe an alias of another artist?

i thought i read somewhere that 00s blog fav kid sister was involved?

There is another name attached too - Cleopatra Nikolic.

She has written for Little Simz.

I'm not on Instagram so didn't know about '7'. Curioser and curioser.

Some of these new tracks sound very “Danger Mouse” I wouldn’t be surprised if he is in fact attached to this one. I see there’s a connection between this “Dean Inflo” mystery man and Danger Mouse on a Michael Kiwanuka album.

I kinda like how this band is a mystery. Really cool album!

This sounds great, thanks for the heads up.
allmusic has the following bio information: "A rhythm-forward heavy rock ensemble formed by members of American power metallers Kamelot and groove metal outfit Arcanium." LOL, that seems highy unlikely

It’s actually true! There’s another band called Sault who play metal. one of them might need to change their name eventually.

Never heard of them before this thread. Listened to a couple tracks so far - I like it but the ESG influence is PROMINENT. Also hearing Tom Tom Club as filtered though, I don’t know, something from the era of late 90s electronica’s-the-next-big-thing.

The song is the second single from Sault, a trio that features London-based musician Dean “Inflo” Josiah Cover (writer of DanDigs.com audio mainstays “Black Man in a White World” by Michael Kiwanuka, “House in LA” by Jungle, “Offence” by Little Simz, and many, many more). It’s released via Forever Living Originals, an independent label that counts Melisa Young among its cohort, better known as Chicago rapper Kid Sister (whose Kanye-featuring “Pro Nails” was a bonafide smash upon its release in 2011, as was the track’s magnificently massive Rusko remix).

https://www.google.com/amp/s/dandigs.com/2019/04/06/diggin-this-sault-dont-waste-my-time-forever-living-originals-dean-inflo-josiah-cover-melisa-young-kid-sister-we-are-the-sun-london-chicago-pro-nails-kanye-dan-digs-jungle-michael-kiwanuka-black-man-i/amp/

Oh nevermind I see you already figured this much out.

I listened to and enjoyed the album but also thought that almost every song seemed geared for placement on a modern Southern Gothic HBO-type show. (N.B.: I am watching Sharp Objects at the moment which may have influenced this conclusion).

new album already?

that should probably be 'new album already!'

7? Have I missed 6?

Haha I half wonder if they're just releasing individual discs from a huge boxset-sized debut album

7 is the one, I think (so far)--5 is pretty great debut for a 'sound' band--foregrounding those influences that seemingly nobody will ever tire of--but some of those songs on 7 really hit me deep in the soul

Both albums are amazingly consistent, hard to really choose one over the other. Huge low-end throughout. I feel wrong saying it, but this is what I wish ESG sounded like.

My copy of the 2nd one should arrive tomorrow. I'm perfectly happy with how ESG sound already and wouldn't change anything about their sound, but if their more recent recordings had sounded more like this I'd probably play them more.

"why, why why" is an earworm and a half even on a first listen.

Damn totally missed the second release!

It's really good too, although I feel ever slightly more favorably toward 5.

They're both pretty fucking amazing. Love the trend of bands popping out 2 albums this year

Really enjoy the slight layer of polish distinguishing the second album from the first. Even more, I enjoy trying to figure out if it’s the songs as a whole or the brilliance of the rhythm section that’s the force of what’s captivating me.

For me it’s the brilliance of the rhythm section. They are amazing. Apparently there’s a tour planned next year so I guess we’ll finally meet the people behind it.

yes, all about the rhythm section for me. is anybody else's copy of the second album warped?

Gradually, I'm growing to feel like this is ace songwriting, both wishing I could articulate why and knowing that I like it because I can't pin it down. It's Sly & Robbie, but it's also Sly and Robbie and Black Uhuru.

The grooves carry them on tracks that are less fleshed out, but there's definitely some standout songwriting too. "Why Why Why Why Why", "Masterpiece", and "Friends" leap to mind as A+ writing.

Yes, the grooves are what drew me in to begin with but the songwriting is what elevates it into something very special. it will be very interesting to see how it works live.

I missed the previous discussion on this but gave it a listen after seeing it listed as Bandcamp’s second best album of the year. Rhythm section really shines.

Jesus Christ these records are so utterly, completely everything I want/need in new music. Even things I love wholeheartedly, it's incredibly rare to hear something where just every decision feels so exactly right.

This has to be related to Little Simz, no?

The only connection I really hear to ESG (whom I adore) is that it's so perfectly minimalist--there's never more than like three or four sound sources. I hear some Library tendencies, some high sophistication a la Adrian Younge/Midnight Hour or Michael Kiwanaku but with so much more restraint. If there's an Afrobeat component it feels more like Lijadu Sisters than Fela... I mean, they definitely get the "who does this call back to" synapses firing, but ultimately I really don't care too much because it's just so perfectly timeless--never retro or overtly futurist, just. . . what it needs to be to do what it's trying to do.

If this is Danger Mouse related, it's by far the best thing he's ever been involved with. The restraint would seem uncharacteristic. . .

If you're not hearing this group, you're missing something pretty damned wonderful:

https://saultglobal.bandcamp.com/

^ you piqued my interest with those previous posts, so thanks! 7 is especially good, I quickly decided.

i wish the "dancing in the rover" (?) voice from "up all night" would reappear elsewhere. that little refrain is my favorite part of 5 !

we're all voting for "up all night" as the song to represent sault at the 77 best tracks ILM 2019. i said it first that means you have to do it

Kind of wish "Don't Waste My Time" was nominated, but don't want to further dilute the choices.

i love don’t waste my time! still haven’t heard the new album.

I'll go with that just to get them seen/heard--but I don't think I could pick fewer than 10 favorites across the two albums.

I'm pretty firmly sold on '7' as the better of the two albums, though both are top-5 of the year for me...

7 has grown on me but 5 is thee one i reckon. hard to choose between "don't waste my time" and "up all night".

I need to try 7 again, definitely dismissed it too quickly.

I can't figure getting one and not the other? They're hardly miles apart--tracks could be interchanged freely, other than '7' having a slightly more serious tone overall perhaps?

you're probably right tbh.

okay, there are songs on 5 that it sounds like had existed for many years but which I had only just heard (where has this been all my life?) whereas this one sounds more current and more like a straight RnB record at times (albeit a very good one). I was singing along with Up All Night, Why Why Why... and others after one listen (this is not always a good thing but is in this instance) but I struggle, so far, to have that connection on 7. 5 also sounds like a weird compilation of unheard tracks from various groups whereas 7 sounds like a record by a group (MAYBE) and that is not a negative, it just doesn't seem uncanny in the way 7 does.

I also want to add how much I love Sault as a band/project name.

no one would care about the gimmicks if the music wasn't genearlly pretty good-to-great

That live setup is more than a gimmick. That’s bonkers.

yeah, i don't care about all the release gimmicks & secrecy but this is a genuinely impressive wild spectacle

So this is what you can do with some Adele royalties and a vision? How does a mid-level act pull the resources for all this together?

I very much wish my first thought upon seeing photos of this wasn't "who funded this" but these are cynical times

Insane spectacles with mysterious funding? Progression to a religious cult is nearly complete.

https://www.facebook.com/gillespeterson/posts/pfbid0LQMWW4CQbmFGhda24oMBuWCRJZBRxDjdb2ZmHpXcGqMjqKKPG58st3qFv4w3obuZl

Yeah got to agree in the end the music is what makes it all work and judging by the videos of the performance they sound amazing live. Cleo Sol in particular is a great vocalist.

anyone familiar with their music knows they take their craft seriously, all the stage production and extra stuff is fun imo

I'd like to see whoever just decided to chill back in the room with the dude and the TV.

from the Giles Peterson FB post: This hasn’t ever been done on such grand scale from the private sector.
Any talk of ripping off the fans couldn’t be further from the truth - the cost of putting on this happening wasn’t about cash it was about Myth…

It's such a throwback to a different time and economy where a performer can leverage the success of their musical vision to do all this extra stuff. With the extra stuff being weird.

https://www.facebook.com/gillespeterson/posts/pfbid0LQMWW4CQbmFGhda24oMBuWCRJZBRxDjdb2ZmHpXcGqMjqKKPG58st3qFv4w3obuZl

Yeah got to agree in the end

is there anything in the post besides bendy's quote?

Oh sorry I was xposting ufo

Regarding how the gimmicks wouldn’t work if the music and performance itself wasn’t good which it is. I wasn’t commenting on Gilles’ review.

I'm curious anyway!

Oh you mean the review? Here it is

Reviews will be everywhere but here’s my take…
@saultglobal the phenomenon.
First and most important - the music - faultless - from the opening playlist - Fela …. Ebo Taylor… A grand orchestral score with huge choir , 2 harps and every instrument under the sun - musicians spread across 5 stages pretty much encircling the 2500 audience - imagine Jools ‘ show on a grander scale… the sound was all round with not a single feedback all night… it was almost 3 hours of music - George Clinton would have been proud - a Mothership Connection London style!
walking into the venue immersive and in line via a fridge and mirrored cactus hall… taking in art, fashion - choreography, lighting and film - this could have graced any world leading museum or gallery - there were guests a plenty - Simz - Chronnix- Kiwanuka - Kid Sister - Ganayva- and of course the force that is Cleo Sol…
I tend to avoid the Arena type mega events where Beyoncé, Adele and the like produce their shows - but this was as ambitious but as a ‘One Off’ … unheard of - economically impossible to justify if you were to try and convince any suits in the accounts department - I saw no sign of commerciality - Inflo would have invested at least 10 x more than he got back from ticket sales.
This hasn’t ever been done on such grand scale from the private sector.
Any talk of ripping off the fans couldn’t be further from the truth - the cost of putting on this happening wasn’t about cash it was about Myth… ps thank you @pomontenegro for somehow obtaining a written set list !!!!

sweet!

There's physically no way their next shows (outside of London) will be the insane total-experience of this show, surely.

But I'm going to be more tortured now than I was already, that there's no way my health will allow going to the NY show (which will focus on my second favorite album of theirs, '5').

Makes me sad that, of all the obvious things to be negative and cynical about in this era, people would approach Sault that way. "Gimmicks," "funding," etc. For some people, Sault/Inflo would be damned either way. They keep the focus on the music, totally indeoendent, on celebrating Black art in multitudinous form, even giving away the music, instead of focusing on celebrity, and the music creating genuine word-of-mouth excitement over several years--it's "trying to create mystery," "gimmicks," "a cult," etc. But they get any taste of success, mainstream praise, etc., it's try-hard, hype, etc. Weird stuff, to me. I for one wish there were far more acts approaching things like Sault, and far fewer megacorporations in pop musician form.

I mean I agree with you, but I don't think most acts could afford to pull off such a thing, given that most acts these days are probably going into personal debt just going on short tours across the midwest

So let’s be thankful there’s someone still willing to do this.

apparently they're never releasing the new material they played live so that's the sort of gimmick that is bullshit

Not sure how/why that's bullshit. They don't owe us anything in particular, if they want to create a one-off experience it seems like that's their call. It's not like Sault in general has been stingy with their fans!

they can do what they want and i can think ultra-exclusive stuff like that is dumb and obnoxious. i think the same about the wu-tang album they auctioned off for instance

i don't have an issue with the live show being a crazy one-off production, there was obviously a ridiculous expense there and live shows are inherently ephemeral

I guess it wouldn't feel quite as exclusive if they actually toured this new stuff through secondary and even tertiary cities, which of course they won't do (no judgment - I sure as hell wouldn't do that either). Still, the idea of some poor Sault fan in Kansas having to make do with crappy YT videos and IG reels if they want to hear new Sault music does seem a little unfair

they are not exactly known for being stingy with releasing music - theyve released what, a dozen albums over the last 4 years? Many of which were free? I feel like that kid in kansas is getting a pretty fair deal

https://t.co/gkoeXfFC9d 🥷🏿🥷 pic.twitter.com/kGtSiswElY

— SAULT (@SaultGlobal) July 6, 2024

they've released acts of faith as a single wav file lol

oh i think it's a single 30 minute song

That TV looks like the one from the gig in Tottenham last December. Just behind it is the fridge you had to clamber through to get to the tunnel that took you to the vast terrarium that took you to the auditorium.

yeah it's the new material they premiered at the show

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-qIFu3tFTy/?igsh=dXlyOG52NDNpaXRu

I guess if they were going to play a festival We Out Here would be the most likely suspect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kqz9jA4EPo

last month someone finally uploaded a lot of footage of last year's show

amazing. and that video cuts off the first part where you walk though a fridge in somebody's living room or something.

I'm curious about the pronunciation of this band's name - is it "salt", as in "assault"; or is it "sue", as in Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario/Michigan)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPh2qIJgUbY

it's "salt"

Thanks!

That show was easily one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. They should headline Glastonbury. And turn it into an installation.

New track up!

https://saultglobal.bandcamp.com/track/pray-for-me

New album up for preorder too, at least on vinyl.

Just came to post this, too slow to beat Ned.

Oh my, so purty!

Is it the same track as on the LP?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wrMG2AHIJA

yeah that's the same album they released as a single wav file earlier this year

I guess I paid insufficient attention to the .wav!

The thing they put on YT overnight is a more meandering edit. Totally dig the coda. (Which I now see was taken as a separate track 10 above. He says, finally catching up lol.)

yeah there were no official track splits so people just guessed at where they were based on the track list

semi-related, i wanted to grab tix for cleo sol's show at radio city but i guess she is way way more popular than i thought she was. there were 20,000 people in front of me in the queue (a friend of mine said they were number 80,000 or so)

Did they ever play those US shows they hinted at just before the London show a year or so ago?

nothing came of that at all

there's a few cleo sol tracks with tens of millions of views on youtube but it's not immediately clear to me how those tracks blew up. there's a loooooooooooot of youtube comments begging her to come to south africa

she does not tour much in general, and idk if she's ever come to the u.s.

still, i didn't expect that level of demand

yeah i would not have expected that either

For those who still buy CDs, "AIR," "AIIR," and "Today & Tomorrow" (which are sold out on Sault's Bandcamp) are in stock and each less than $10 from DeepDiscount for some reason:
https://www.deepdiscount.com/search?q=sault&mod=AP