Pallett (All Is Yes)
Get The Blessing
Released October 20, 2023
Jazzwise Top 50 Albums of the Year 2023
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About:
Been a while, eh?! In fact, blessings seem to have been few and far between over the last few years, but we are delighted to be back in your inboxes and in your ears, to announce the release this autumn of our seventh studio album “Pallett”!
“Pallett” (the title is, of course, the usual obtuse pun) grew from improvisations between Jake, Pete, and Jim during the lockdowns, which were then sent in a big jiffy bag to Clive, who added his drums at home in Oxfordshire. Our very good friend Adrian Utley hammered in a few final nails, and then the great Tim Allen mixed the results. We hope you enjoy its organic eco-paint mixture of hypnotic long-form minimalism, playful rhythms, and unusual textures. If in some ways it’s a more mature album, you’ll be glad to hear that we definitely still “play like children”, as one of our favourite reviews once put it.
And we’d like to invite you too to access your inner child…Since an imaginary colour chart inspired the track titles, we thought you might enjoy colouring in your own copy of the paint-by-numbers album artwork, so limited edition vinyls will be supplied with wax crayons. There’ll also be a very special edition limited edition of vinyls coloured in by the band. Jim has a fine art degree so the colouring will be especially good. The album will also be available as a CD and digital release.
To celebrate the release of “Pallett,” we’re off on a UK launch tour in October, with dates in Salisbury, Bath, Bristol, Gosforth, Liverpool and London already confirmed. Full details on our website. Hope to see you at one of these. We are extremely excited.
Thank you for your continued support. We are blessed.
See you very soon
Jake, Jim, Pete, & Clive
Track Listing:
1. Oscillation ochre 07:25
2. Heavy water (French grey) 03:25
3. Vongole verdigris 04:14
4. Dry brush blue 03:20
5. São Pedro gold 02:59
6. Ambient black 09:40
7. Dude indigo 02:26
8. Small star of the big silver 02:41
9. Temperate red 04:47
Personnel:
Jim Barr: Bass, Loops, Noises
Clive Deamer: Gretsch Drums
Pete Judge: Trumpet, Piano, Viola, Loops, Noises
Jake McMurchie: Saxophone, Piano, Loops, Noises
Adrian Utley: guitar
Recorded by Jim Barr and Clive Deamer
Mixed by Tim Allen
Mastered by Shawn Joseph at Optimum Mastering
Artwork: Jake McMurchie, Jim Barr
Produced by Get The Blessing, Jim Barr
Review:
The rule-bending Bristol-based four-piece Get the Blessing now record for a new label of their own that’s titled after their BBC Jazz Award-winning debut album released in 2008. Then their horn-riffing, punky attitude and wacky pop band-like image was at odds with certain sections of the jazz community. By the fourth album Lope and Antilope, the introduction of minimalistic-type textures and more ambient post-rock sonics saw them mature discerningly while still keeping with their characteristic ‘live’ organic instrumentation and fat-size grooves. That approach reaches its peak on Pallett, their seventh studio release so far.
Opener ‘Oscillation Ochre’ has bassist Jim Barr and drummer Clive Deamer nailing a hip EZ funk groove that could be a tribute to Roy Budd’s Get Carter film theme, while the influential soundworlds of Nordic nu-jazz, ambient Crimson-like prog, In a Silent Way-era Miles and perhaps Donny McCaslin’s Bowie Blackstar band seep into their intoxicating yet seductively enigmatic widescreen sound. ‘Dry Brush Blue’ has the chilled, airy twang of 1990s West Country cult trip-hoppers Portishead, the one-time touring band of bassist Barr and drummer Deamer.
‘Ambient Black’, sounds like it could soundtrack a TV news item about a galactic moon landing, and the Michael Nyman-ish ‘Temperate Red’ and dub-infused ‘Dude Indigo’ are among the many highlights. Initially known as just The Blessing, named after a track by their inspiration Ornette Coleman, it’s something that still guides their unconstrained approach if it’s not there in actual musical substance. They click collectively, a band in the true sense of the word with ideas that are conceived on-the-fly while keeping things fresh and ‘live’ sounding with their studio-based approach, not overlooking the key contribution from ex-Portishead guitarist-producer Adrian Utley.
Selwyn Harris (Jazzwise)
