August Cooke’s new EP On The Line is a swirling and dreamlike, drawing on his composing skills and training as a classical cellist but brought into the world of folk pop. The title track, ‘On The Line’, delicately breaks the spell between being asleep and awake with lush strings that slide in like Nelson Riddle accompanied by plump cello accents. Cooke’s voice is breathy and unforced and gently doubled before bringing in widescreen harmonies at the halfway point and the end section is a bucolic surprise as strings sweep across the track reminiscent of Lark Ascending.
‘Mountain Down’ has the pace and romance of Björk’s ‘Jóga’ with bowed cello phrases following the melody while pizzicato phrases bubble left and right. The gentle clatter of drums on ‘Nila’ underpins swelling bass notes and a sumptuous lilting tune and the final track ‘Gasoline’ is a love song broadcast from a dream with underwater percussion, Spanish clapping and a vocal line that would barely break the meniscus of water.
On The Line is an EP made up of four beautiful tracks that shimmer; replete with romance and a languid warmth that reminded me of the otherworldly feel of P.M. Dawn. The organic strings, clarinet (Benjy Sandler on ‘Nila’), and bass (Daniele Gulino on Mountain Down’) are accompanied by light-touch electronics to enhance the spell the EP casts. It’s a set of songs that introduce themselves to subconscious first, music that feels like it hovers in your peripheral vision waiting for you to turn.
August Cooke: Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
Review by Paul F Cook
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