Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
There are those who have issues with intimacy, it scares them and no amount of cajoling or warmth will ever change that. It is not a bad thing to be wary of such confidence and chance of relationship, but it can lead you away from a musical path in which the poise and lyrical attraction of the musician is all consuming, all powerful and understandably beautiful.
For some the thought of the intimate is like Tumbleweed blowing across a barren landscape, the prairie dogs howling at the splutter and cough of the lost and ill equipped, it is the wind blowing in the darkness that gives them comfort and yet as they look across the moonlit fields, in the distance the holding of charming intimacy and creative edge is held out like a beacon, beckoning and bountiful. It is the hands of Cera Impala that the bounty, the prize, is to be seen as a hug from a stranger, one that makes your breath run fast and the pulse skip, one that makes you tumble in love.
The art of the sensual is often misconstrued as being flirtatious, an unseemly playful tease, but in Tumbleweed the body is taken on a journey of spirited, in depth, unique perception, it is the moment when the listener’s brain is overwhelmed by the sound of the new that only thing it can do is surrender for a while, raise the white flag and let the musical soft assault continue.
The tunes sway like a willow tree caught in a hurricane; the tree is immovable at the roots, it will not crack under the pressure or lose limbs due to the posturing of the wind, but it will magically sway, it will move with the breath of harmony and find physical enjoyment in its constant repositioning.
In tracks such as Little Bird, the impressive Roll A Joint, Caroline, the title track of the album Tumbleweed and Magic, Cera Impala does something that should be cherished, held beyond the effects of the tumbleweed, it is the smooth dance you always wanted but with the element and thrill of the crazy and beautiful thrown in. This is tumbleweed in the shape and strength of a sturdy British Oak and one that is observed in its field as a huge power and trusted companion.
Cera Impala’s Tumbleweed is released on September 18th.
Ian D. Hall