Cary Grace 'Lady of Turquoise'

Cary Grace (and band) continues to soar, excelling herself (themselves) with the band's latest release, Cary Grace 'Lady of Turquoise', which was released at the end of January in Delux Edition 2x Glass mastered CD's in a mini LP replica  gatefold sleeve or digital download formats. Cary dropped a track a day through the beginning of December to wet our appetites and, man, what an absolutely phenomenal album, thoroughly engaging throughout. Over recent years I've been lucky enough to discover a few artists whose work I love, Cary's one of them; original, innovative and imaginative, she consistently delivers beautifully crafted music, and what she creates is always of the highest standard and quality... be that on single, album or if you really want to experience the full magic, then live, where her performances, and those of the incredible Cary Grace Band, are always mesmerizing. Lady of Turquoise continues in an already well established mould of excellence, although Cary doesn’t rest on her laurels, always looking for opportunities to evolve her sound and raise the bar, and she's certainly achieved that on this release.

Lady of Turquoise is an astonishing album, there's nothing not to like about it, nothing! It's engaging from beginning to end, never dull, no filler, all the tracks show real care and attention paid to their detail, all individual, though all flowing wonderfully to create a cogent whole. Cary's stunning image as Egyptian Goddess Hathor sets the tone, and opening track 'Khepera at the Dawn' perfectly sets atmosphere, together transporting you to the dusty world of a hundred temples rising through the morning haze. That theme is enhanced by Cary's vocal delivery on tracks like 'Letterbox' which conjures ritual invocation, nice acoustic guitar on that one too. A striking feature of Cary's work is her wonderful voice, distinctive and quite quite captivating, and Cary uses her voice to full effect on this album, sometimes sensual, sometimes sombre, sometimes palpably magical, and always powerful and perfectly suited to the narrative and the tracks aesthetic. Like a sirens song Cary's voice draws you into her lyrically eloquent numbers. On 'Afterglow', a gorgeous spoken word number which builds magnificently, at times there's a sort of Patti Smith quality to Cary's delivery, which is cool. When joined by Victoria Reyes on backing vocals on the fantastic 'Without a Trace' it's pure aural bliss, their voices are a perfect combination, creating lovely harmonies, great track. The aesthetic of each track is different, though all 13 remain thematic in feel, many have a sumptuous progressive rock aesthetic woven into their distinctly psychedelic fabric, others elements of folk, rock or pop. Another musical alchemist, Cary has gathered all manner of disparate elements and subtle influences to create something of her own, something emphatically Cary Grace. Cary's not just a talented singer/writer though, no, her talents extend way beyond that, a wizard on synthesizer (her resplendent synth on Lady of Turquoise is testament to that), a multi-instrumentalist who plays all sorts on this album, and on top of that she's an analogue synthesizer builder, artist and crafter of quality.

Cary's gathered a stellar ensemble of musicians together for Lady of Turquoise, there are of course the Cary Grace Band regulars: John Garden, a most excellent guitar player who shows his manifest skills on guitar across the album. I really couldn't single out one particular track on which John shines, because he's refulgent throughout, as well as providing some tidy synth on a couple tracks and even drums on 'Letterbox'. Although, drums are really the domain of David Payne, whether slow tempo or belting it out, David's drumming is the dogs, clean, powerful, consistent, and always right on the money...the engine of the band. Who together with rhythm supremo Andy Budge, one of the psychedelic scenes premier, and much in demand, bass practitioners on bass, provide the solidest of rhythmic foundations for the duration, and they do it in style and verve... a dream team. And, of course, the superb multi-instrumentalist Victoria Reyes on keyboard, organ, and not forgetting wonderful backing vocals on 'Without a Trace'. As if that wasn't enough, the band are joined by a host of prodigious guest artists. You've legendary guitarist Steffe Sharpstrings (Here and Now, Sentient, Gong) who's unmistakable sound shines on 'Khepera at the Dawn', 'Film Noir' and 'Castle of Dreams', there's something blissful to Steffe's peerless ethereal guitar sound, and his distinct talents are employed to glorious affect here. A real treat is 'Castle of Dreams' where you've got Steffe and John together, magnificent, man. Then on 'Without a Trace' and 'Sacrifice' musician, composer and producer Steve Everitt (Eat Static) is enlisted for guitar duty, and is none too shabby, with some particularly nice rock guitar on 'Sacrifice', a track with a nice heavier yet laid back groove to it. Whilst Gong's saxophonist Ian East lays down some wonderfully mournful sax on 'Film Noir', a favourite track of mine, with a brooding theatrical atmosphere to it, which I thought evocative of the 1980 movie Breaking Glass soundtrack. Then you've got Andy Bole (another renowned multi-instrumentalist) who brings a flavour of eastern Mediterranean exotic to 'Costume Jewellery' on the laouto and bouzouki, a track with something of a Doors/Floyd flavour to it, a wonderfully expansive sounding number with 60's/70's sensibilities, an epic track full of drama which builds impressively before a long spacey synth fade out...nice! Also on 'Costume Jewellery' another legend, Graham Clark, brings his extraordinary violin skills to mix and does an absolutely exceptional job, lending a sort of urgency through them, as well as playing guitar on a number of tracks, including the instrumental 'The Land of Two Fields', a short number with a solidly 70's progtastic synth flavour which acts as an tasty entrée, feeding seamlessly into the final and titular track. Lady of Turquoise completes the album on an up beat euphoric note, an energetic synth driven pop psyche joy, with a faint echo of vintage era Hawkwind. Outstanding eh, man! Cary's raised the bar high with this one, what an absolutely sensational album, stunning in every aspect, thoroughly listenable... again and again. An epic album through which Cary's flexed her impressive progressive muscles, and so much more, Lady of Turquoise is a triumph.  There's depth and drama in every one of the 13 faultless tracks, all beautifully crafted and perfectly executed by a decet of accomplished musicians, who’ve ensured every facet of this album is flawless, a glistening gem. The result is an hour and a half of aural rapture, a sublime release. Bravo y'all, and big up Cary, and big up the Cary Grace massive. I'm certain Hathor, being a Goddess of music and dance, would approve. I'd recommend you do yourself a favour and check it out here (whilst your there check out her back catalogue, it's a gold mine)... satisfaction guaranteed. Guaranteed I say!