Summer SAULT

In a time when a 2 minute search online can unearth a wealth of history and background, SAULT are refreshingly low-key and mysterious. A collective believed to centre on producer InFlo aka Dean Josiah Cover, SAULT released their first album in 2019 and less than 2 years later, are up to their fifth. This includes two double albums released in 2020, one of which - UNTITLED (Rise) - was shortlisted for this year's Mercury Music Prize*

 

In Alexis Petridis's review of UNTITLED (Rise) for the Guardian last year, he wrote that the album "hardly yields highlights because the quality never wavers [...] You’d call it the album of the year if its predecessor wasn’t just as good". This can reasonably be applied to each of SAULT's albums. I didn't hear SAULT for the first time until recently, when the album 'NINE' was released and, after sampling a few songs, ended up buying their entire catalogue on Bandcamp. 

 

Each album is a compelling listen and trying to compile a selection for this blog is both seemingly impossible and deceptively simple. In the end, I copped out by creating an acrostic, tracks from each of the five albums spelling out the collective's name. Even so, I think it hangs together really well and will hopefully encourage you to search out more.

'NINE' is available as a free download for a limited time on SAULT's website, but I'd actually encourage you to head over to SAULT's Bandcamp page, where it's available as a Name Your Price digital album, and pay for it. All of the albums are also available on vinyl. In typical fashion, the official website has little info beyond a countdown of the number of days remaining for the 'NINE' download. Does this mean that for the third consecutive year a second album will be dropped imminently? I hope so**

In the meantime, there's plenty more InFlo-produced music to enjoy: he's been involved in albums by Michael Kiwanuka and Little Simz. I've just received a copy of the latter's new album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. I'm only one listen in at the time of posting and, to paraphrase Alexis Petridis, I’d call it the album of the year if the SAULT album wasn’t just as good.

 

1) Stop Dem (from UNTITLED (Black Is)) (2020)

2) Alcohol (from 'NINE') (2021)

3) Up All Night (from 5) (2019)

4) Little Boy (from UNTITLED (Rise)) (2020)

5) Tip Toe (from 7) (2019)

 

Summer SAULT (19:01)
 

* Note (1): ...which SAULT sadly didn't win, although Arlo Parks is pretty great too. It was Dean Josiah Cover's second consecutive nomination; Michael Kiwanuka won the prize in 2020 for Kiwanuka, co-produced by InFlo. Arguably, he may be up for a third year running in 2022, with 'NINE' and/or Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.

 

** Note (2): of course, if I'd bothered to do the 2 minute Google search that I mentioned at the start of my post, I would have realised that the countdown clock on the SAULT website is because 'NINE' is only available to download for 99 days, as reported in the NME back in June. If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend getting on to it as you've got until 2nd October.