Seaside is the latest single from London born, Nashville based Spencer Cullum, taken from his debut solo album, Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection (out 24 September via Full Time Hobby). The song was inspired by the Cornish coastline of his home: “Seaside has a different story each verse. Innocent enjoyment as a child, how it can be a place of reflection and fear whilst it also taking note of a environmental consciousness.”
The single opens to a shimmering spiritual jazz-like flute before some brief but playful jam-band string bending pulls it west before heading home to the UK for a distinct Canterbury vibe inspired by the likes of Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt. That’s quite a contrasting mixed platter of sound to offer up in the first 30 seconds and it just sounds all the richer for it. In his own words, “I wanted to write a very quintessential English folk record, but with really good Nashville players…” He clearly has a rapport with the players on the album it sounds like a beautiful shared vision. Those players include guitarist Sean Thompson, multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds and James “Skyway Man” Wallace on piano and mellotron, as well as singing partners like Caitlin Rose, Andrew Combs, Erin Rae, Annie Williams, Herman Düne and Mayon Hanania. Three of the album’s tracks are also co-written with Combs, Wallace and Reynolds and there’s a cover of Mike Heron’s The Tree.
According to the press, the album manifests his love for psych-prog ground-breakers the Soft Machine, digs deep into cerebral ambient inspirations like Robert Fripp and Brian Eno and even krautrock icons NEU! “I’ve always wanted to mix krautrock music into folk and psychedelia,” he explains.
I’ll be honest…I purchased this album a while back after hearing it on Bandcamp (although the earlier album release I have doesn’t feature this gorgeous number) and it’s been on my turntable a fair bit since. If you love psych-folk and cosmic Americana, you’ll love this. I can see this UK release going down a treat. Callum, a pedal steel savant, is one of Nashville’s most in-demand session players and it’s now time for him to step out from the shadows.
Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection – ltd edition vinyl + CD out 24th September 2021.
Pre-order: https://smarturl.it/spencercullumcc
Photo Credit: Angelina Castillo