Think Like A Key 2024
FERNANDO PERDOMO –
Never Let Go:
A Tribute To Camel
Subtitled “A Tribute To Camel”: homage to the gods of light brings revelatory angles to familiar fare.
As influential as this collective were, CAMEL never really had the pleasure of hearing their classics covered – simply because their tunes are so firmly locked into the band’s sonic identity, and projecting any other personality on those pieces, through different arrangements, will endanger their fragile magic. Which is why it took two generations of musicians to pass and two younger artists to feel daring and reverent in equal measure – enough to try and interpret eleven of the ensemble’s numbers. Naturally, Fernando Perdomo and Ian Gothe’s choices mostly emerge from the ’70s, where the pair see more space for multi-instrumental maneuvers, but a couple of later-period songs are present here too – and, of course, vocals didn’t play a major role there, always used as a word-ridden melodic device – and the Americans seem to embrace such freedom eagerly, if gently.
This valiant approach is ever so apparent on “Spirit Of The Water” which shifts an ethereal drift from original ivories to guitar, and, to an extent, on “Rhyader” which not only acquires an acoustic six-string lace courtesy of Gothe to support his flute motif but also attains a freshly shaped electric flight from Perdomo. With Fern’s heavy riffs driving opener “Another Night” before Ian’s deadpan vocals lay down hefty lines to soften on refrains and welcome Durga McBroom’s siren call on coda, there’s a sense of specialness about the friends’ effortless and imaginative reading of familiar material. It’s a physical sensation that should shed a new light on each of the tracks on offer, even on the brief atmospheric gems “Sanctuary” and “Fritha” which are linked in the order “The Snow Goose” proposed ages ago, while the ’80s strays “Refugee” and the record’s finale “City Life” provide the same expanse, albeit in an urban setting the California and Floridian lads fill with coastal humidity to replace the dry chill of Andrew Latimer’s pieces.
However, “Air Born” which started their joint venture gets augmented with previously hidden passages and fleshed out in twangy and down-to-earth, yet cosmic, sensuality instead of past transparence, and “Never Let Go” exudes exactly this lucidity, enhanced with Dave Kerzner’s fusion-minded solo. Just as audaciously, “Slow Yourself Down” turns into a delicate, deep and diaphanous, and powerfully panoramic, ballad it never was, despite the song’s title, whereas “Preparation” receives a voice to transform the old cinematic surface into an emotional, folk-riddled ripple. No mean feat performed with rare grace, here’s a tribute to make proud everyone involved, influencers and influenced alike.
*****
