It was definitely the right choice to release this as a single as well, and I’m glad they did. The song is great, and represents everything I was hoping the album would be. Thankfully, the next song is ‘Plume’, which brings us back to the highs we know Caravan Palace are capable of achieving. Towards the end, I can appreciate the piano solo as well, but overall, this one I was not so keen on. It’s as if the worst parts of ‘About You’ have been extended into a whole song for the most part, the baritone sax is the only saviour. The next track is ‘Melancholia’, which unfortunately, does not hit the mark at all. There’s a very interesting contrast here between the cheery, upbeat music, and the slow, wistful, solo voice. Again, it’s a return for the familiar CP sound, and we have the trademark high vocals again. Next, the first track that I didn’t already know was ‘Moonshine’, which is very reminiscent of ‘Russian’ off their last album. The massive bass hook that follows his lines certainly makes up for it though. The track features Charles X, who I’m only familiar with because of Smokey Joe and the Kid’s ‘Smokid All Stars’ (an absolute tour de force), however I was a little disappointed with his vocals, which aren’t all that interesting as a whole. This features a bit more of a familiar CP sound, particularly in the high-pitched group vocals that come in towards the end. Following this is ‘About You’ – another which had already been released earlier in the year. It’s a brilliant start though, very bluesy, very positive and energetic, and some great use of samples throughout. This definitely set us up for what was to come, and gave us time to prepare ourselves. I recall back in February, upon it’s release, saying how different it sounded, and that I probably wouldn’t recognise it as them had I not already known. Now, this track has been available for some time now, and so I was already very familiar with it. Of course, making significant changes to one’s sound carries risks with it, and whether this has paid off or not for Caravan Palace is a different matter. It’s understandable that, having been in the game for such a time now, they would want to expand their sound, and actually something that I’d argue most acts should attempt more. The album is certainly something of a departure from what many of us were expecting from the band. Quite a feat for an Electro Swing act, and one which may take us some time to see repeated. In fact, as the band announced on their Twitter last Saturday, the album was amongst the top ten bestselling albums worldwide. Chronologic represents their fourth album now, and it’s one which has been both highly-anticipated, and greatly-received. These guys have been making music for over a decade now, and have consistently set the bar for others to try and reach.
You’d be hard-pressed to find any other artist in the genre who doesn’t cite them as an influence of some kind.
Quite possibly the most respected act in electro swing – in fact quite likely. Review: Caravan Palace – Chronologic (New Album)Ĭaravan Palace.