Phospurous by Custard Flux

 

A 4th serving of Custard Flux, Phosphorus, was dished up in the Autumn of 2022, with the vinyl release in August 2023. I recently availed myself of a copy and wasn't disappointed. Best known for being the driving force behind The Luck Of Eden Hall and his countless contributions on other musical projects Gregory Curvey is an accomplished multi instrumentalist, composer, artist and artisan, Detroits' very own renaissance man. Custard Flux is his evolving project based around a harmonium he restored, and with 3 albums already under his belt the distinctive sound of Custard Flux is developing nicely.

 

There's been little change to the line up in the band since 2020's 'Oxygen', beyond the departure of Walt Prettymans' violin and the addition of the flute and backing vocals of progressive space rocker Jay Tausing the band remains the same. The fantastic talent of Vito Greco on guitars, including some particularly nice Portuguese guitar; the return of Timothy Prettymans' excellent double bass; legendary saxophonist Mars Williams brings a proggy jazz atheistic, with echoes of Gong-est atmospheres at moments; and drums, percussion, piano, harmonium, harpsichord, auto-harp, and of course dazzling guitar and distinct vocals delivered by Curvey himself. 

 

Always setting the bar high Curvey consistently surpasses it, and he's done it again with 'Phosphorus'. As you'd imagine Phosphorous shares core DNA with it's predecessors, though again further evolved and augmented. As with previous Custard Flux releases there's plenty to enjoy. Laden with inventive genre spanning compositions where progressive rock dances with cerebral psyche along to pop beats, arrangements with a classical air which give them a certain gravitas, and always tracks that you feel could surprise you at any moment, and often do, Phosphorous is an aural feast. Curvey has a unique style and sound, lover of complex melodies and wonderful riffs, always lyrically interesting, his distinctive and inimitable creative style runs through his work like Brighton through rock, and Phosphorous is no different.  This is another fabulous album from Custard Flux, you'd be mental not to avail yourself of a copy. Absolute quality elegantly performed to perfection by a top flight ensemble. Cap doffed.

Get your double 150g blue or black vinyl, housed in a quality card stock gate fold sleeve adorned inside and out by some fine art by Gregory Chamberlain, plus lyric sheet and postcards, from Custard Flux. Bloody Lovely.