The Cult Of Free Love are a new one on me, I admit I've never heard of these before so I was curious to see what they were all about. Their sound has been described as having similarities to bands like Primal Scream, New Order, The Orb, Kraftwerk and The Chemical Brothers, amongst others. From their Facebook page I extract the following quote. "The Cult of Free Love is an international musical collective. Relatively little is known about the band or its members, although it is understood that this is not their first dip into the murky, shallow waters of the music industry." Get's the head scratching, although I do know the name of one of the members as he was the one that initially contacted Last Stop Sounds but to keep the mystery going, I shall not name him. Anyway.... onto the album.
'Visions' is the opening track and the title of the album too. A haunting melody kickstarts it then the electronic drum track kicks in. Immediately the sound is reminiscent of the great KMFDM but not as heavily guitar-driven. An obvious industrial sound. The drum beat is simple but very affective as it drives the slow to mid-pace orchestra along, the haunting melody evident in the background as the keyboard weaves in and out supporting the ethereal vocal line.
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Next up is 'Transcendence'. I can see where the comparison to Kraftwerk is made with the opening notes of this track. Again the simplistic, effective drum track moves this slower number along. No vocals on this song but they're not needed as this delightful little instrumental does indeed 'transcend' you into a slightly hypnotic state where you can feel yourself drifting away on the waves of a gentle ebb tide. This track would not be out of place on one of those relaxation CDs.
'And The Sun Shall Rise Up In The East' is announced by a sitar-esqe string introduction. The drums are even slower here. The crescendo ever so slowly creeps up on you as you close your eyes and think of lands afar. This is ambience at it's best and just before you drift away completely a guitar break jerks you awake. And it rolls on and on, increasing in voracity and volume to create a sublime noise which is eventually joined by distant vocals. A very 'Indian' feel to this.
Track four is 'Stardust'. The reference to The Orb and in my opinion, Orbital - stands out like a sore thumb with this track. Shriek-like keys supported by echo-ey vocals interweave together forming a perfect knit. The drums are more 'busy' on Stardust, not manic by any means as it's a slow track. This is so much like Orbital's material. Again this will fit nicely on any ambient and/or relaxation CD.
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‘And The Sun Will Set In The West' follows on from the third track on this CD, which is growing on me by the minute. I'm not normally a listener of this genre of music but this is appealing. 'And The Sun....' has that traditional Indian style harmony to it which is akin to the subject matter of its sister musical offering that is track three. If you like authentic, regional music then this is for you.Â
Track six is also a follow-on, 'Visions - Reprise'. Rock solid bass drum pounds away as an eerie score increases in volume in the background which is then almost hounded out by a rhythmic, heavy bass line. The backbone then stops as more orchestral vocals take over, again very reminiscent of The Orb and Orbital. When the song starts in full swing, other influences can be heard, Front Line Assembly and Front 242 being obvious contenders (to me anyway).
More sitar-esque strings play a major part in the intro of 'Everyone Wants To Go To Heaven But Nobody Wants To Die'. The melody in this is just gorgeous. Literally feels like a gentle wave washing over you. I may have used that analogy to describe a previous track on this well constructed musical journey but I make no apology for it. This album is one that I will now start to listen to and drift off somewhere away from all this current Covid shite! You can quite easily lose yourself in this creation.
And now we reach the climax of what has become a selection in my top ten CD's reviewed so far for Last Stop. 'Hiraeth' draws this enigmatic foray to a premature conclusion. Hiraeth stems from Welsh culture and describes a deep longing for something. (I had to google the meaning.) A fitting ensemble to a well put together CD. The keys ebb and flow, in and out, meandering on their way. No drums, no vocals, no bass as they're not required.
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To summarise, if you like your ambient/industrial music then you're going to like this CD. After listening to this, it is plainly obvious that they have spent time in the studio perfecting the end result and it was time well spent. A beautiful music journey which held me captive throughout. Not normally what I listen to but I'm open to hearing new and different forms and creativity and 'Visions' by 'The Cult Of Love' is one I will play over and over. Job well done chaps (whoever you are)!
Words: DLW, Images: Band Media
Bandcamp: https://thecultoffreelove.bandcamp.com/