Vetiver – Up On High
Loose Music – Out Now
“I know you’re not the wide-eyed kind and faith gets hard to find. But hear me out…” appeals Vetiver main man Andy Cabic on All We Could Want, around the midway mark of his seventh album, Up On High.
Of the many Bay area artists linked to the early Noughties freak-folk crop, none have mellowed more over the succeeding years than Cabic. With a cratediggers eye for the obscure, his initial Incredible String Band-styled excursions edged away from the psych-pastoral over time, in favour of a smoother, West Coast blend. Fifteen years since his debut, the San Franciscan songwriter now steps away from the heavily-layered, keys-centred focus of Complete Strangers and The Errant Charm. Instead Up On High unveils an all-together more assured collection of Califried, acoustic gems, as well as what seems like a more content man behind the moniker.
As a Way Out Weather guitar comes into focus, Cabic unpicks silver slithers on opener The Living End, occasionally recalling Jeff Tweedy, with less alt-country croak and more of a honeyed delivery. Laidback and introspective it’s a decent litmus test for the rest of the record, as similarities to Beachwood Sparks, GospelbeacH, Mapache and Fruit Bats arise throughout (the latter comparison unsurprising seeing as frontman Eric D. Johnson guests).
“Damn naivety” sighs Cabic on To Who Knows Where, a fine-spun number cut from classic Laurel Canyon soft-rock. The jangle-pop of Swaying follows, before the crisscross of skins and cooing backing vocals of All We Could Want charmingly coasts by. Whether it’s the Steely Dan sleaze of Hold Tight or the delicate Paul Simon-esque phrasing of A Door Shuts Quick (with its quick-footed Graceland bassline), Vetiver’s tight production and retro flair make for an uncomplicated, pleasing listen, as they effortlessly incorporate signature Seventies tropes into the DNA of each of their tracks.
“A slow spell
Cast on the evening
By sunlight diving
Into the sea
A shimmer
Coming off the water
Leaps against the lee
Its glimmer
Ornaments the hour
Filigree”
Filigree perhaps best captures Vetiver’s vibe on a whole. Caught in the reverb sheen of a cawing slide, Cabic’s lyrical through-line here almost perfectly sums up the sun-dappled, reflective magic Vetiver tend to evoke. As Up On High progresses you slip into a supple calm, as the meditative reel of fingerpicking seems to reminisce over the searching acid folk of the band’s early years. Though, Cabic now seems more self-aware than ever, conceding freely, “what’s past is past” on Wanted, Never Asked.
Sure, Up On High’s gentle countrified pace may well pass some by, disappearing like the crossroad shadow of a hitchhiker in your rearview. Others, however, will embrace it with open arms, like an old friend, along for the ride. There’s the sense here that this drifting quality doesn’t solely just apply to the music either; for Cabic it’s a deliberate way of life, a freewheeling philosophy that’s never sounded quite this convincing:
“Far from where I began
Chasing the living end
A taste for killing time
Lost but I know that I’m
Nearer now”
Up On High is out now on Loose