Cloth – Pink Silence

After making light work of their so-called difficult second record, Glaswegian twins Cloth sought advice from producer Ali Chant on how to approach their third record. Chant’s advice was both simple and cryptic - he told them that the best records are made by the artists who “let go”. 

For Cloth, this meant aiming for a more muscular, expansive sound, which they achieve, in part through Owen Pallett’s sharp strings that swoon through half of the album’s ten songs. They bite through the bobbing cadence of Polaroid and elsewhere perk up Rachael and Paul Swinton’s meticulous palm-muted rhythms, helping to nudge the arrangements from portrait into cinematic landscape. This shift is also aided by Portishead’s Adrian Utley who lends his guitar to a handful of tracks. On I Don’t Think So he uses it to create a thick, gooey riff that bursts into the song’s chorus. On Stuck he provides an atmospheric rattle as the song builds towards its conclusion. 

But it's Paul’s lyrics where Cloth truly let go. His words of loss and heartbreak are carried by Rachael’s serene, hushed vocals, ensuring that on Pink Silence, Cloth expand their sound while retaining their intimacy – ultimately they succeed in letting go.

Listen to: Polaroid, I Don't Think So, Write it Down