Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Crystal Moth: Crystal Moth

15

Crystal Moth: Crystal Moth

By

Sign in to view read count
Crystal Moth: Crystal Moth
This London-based quintet started as a duo with drummer Paul May and percussionist Patrick Dawes, but eventually expanded into a quartet due to a series of meetings and encounters among additional musicians. Otherwise, May and keyboardist Carolyn Hume performed as a duo and released several intriguing minimalistic, melodic, jazz-improvisation framed outings for the largely, experimental and long-running UK record label, Leo Records.

The respective musicians' resumes are comprised of diverse backgrounds, which makes sense after listening to the band's asymmetrical incorporation of folk, art rock, progressive rock, and acoustic-electric space rock amid dabs of the beat poet era. Indeed, it's a difficult album to pigeonhole, which of course lends to its unique musicality.

This production can sound like it was intended as a hip, museum piece. The artists' clarity of thought and execution is evident throughout, whether they perpetuate electric dreams via Hume's daintily placed EFX treatments or her warm, dappled shadings when performing on acoustic piano. Moreover, the marketing details prudently draw similarities to vocalist, keyboardist David Sylvian's work, perhaps due to Charlie Beresford's warmhearted and understated vocals, periodically casting a dusky characteristic atop the these works that often travel along deviating paths.

Even though the quintet maintains a signature style, each piece brings various aspects to the forefront, such as guest artist Jon Clayton's sawing ostinato cello lines on "Images of Snow," tempered by Beresford's hush-toned iterations and Hume's expansive keys and softly woven colorizations. At various points in time, the ensemble elicits notions of early 70s Pink Floyd-like background treatments, although "Paul 3" is a spacey electronica work sketched on a world beat percussion vibe.

"Passed the Fountain" is an oscillating ballad, textured by Hue's quaintly melodic piano accents and Beresford's wistful vocals, yet "Slowly" is a strutting, mid-tempo tone poem, complete with synths, somber musings and May's snappy beats to help shape a simple, but memorable primary hook. Indeed, Crystal Moth communicates an ability to morph a comprehensive genre-busting stance into its core modus operandi, complete with wide-ranging contrasts and a horde of unexpected treats and mildly enacted bypasses.

Track Listing

Still Reward; Images of Snow; Paul 3; Special Groove; Passed the Fountain; Strike this Day; Slowly; Night.

Personnel

Charlie Beresford: vocals; Patrick Dawes: percussion; Carolyn Hume: keyboards, piano, treble recorder; Peter Marsh: double bass, electric bass, steel guitar; Paul May: drums. Duke Garwood: guitar (1,2,4,8); Chris Cornetto: Chinese flute (7), flugelhorn (8); Julie Kjaer: flute (4); Nina Abadzis: choral vocals (3,8); James Burnham: violin (6); Jon Clayton: cello (2).

Album information

Title: Crystal Moth | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Self Produced

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.