Cosmo Sheldrake: Eye to the Ear Review

It's been FAR too long since we last had a taste of the tarlike, uncartoonish-dark-circus machinations from Cosmo Sheldrake. After spending some time in the woods sampling birds on the next album and in the ocean for his last album, there was a fear that we would slowly watch the pathway between what listeners want and what Cosmo is fixated on split. It's by no means the first time that's happened; for myself, watching MGMT contentedly reap royalties on their debut while they making boring albums at their pace makes me happy for them--but I hate it. You can't make good music that you aren't invested in, though.

What a relief, then, to hear the opening track Gnort or Gnortle for the new album Eye to the Ear. It's more than a little similar to Hocking, acting as a bullhorned announcement that Cosmo has returned to society. It all comes rushing back: the nontraditional loops, the weird application of woodwinds and ballooning horns, and Sheldrake's mesmerizing thousand-yard-stare of a voice. If there was one thing I wasn't expecting, it was for him to come out of nature sounding crisp and practiced. Nature was a blessing to his sound, giving it a new color to work with like a painter adding gold leaf. 

It's important that he has more tools at his disposal, too. Having more Much Much would have probably resulted in diminishing returns; while it's clear Sheldrake doesn't have much interest in trying to serve anything more than his own interests, his interests just so happen to include being good and covering new ground. Nobody is going to accuse him of being as restrained as Norah Jones anytime soon. The additions of nature sounds are not the only things on the menu, by the way. Choral sections, OKGO-like drumlines, chants, Smash Mouth-like guitarwork, and so much more that I might even not remember. If that doesn't confuse enough, I'd even call the resultant sound Victorian in a Lemony Snicket sense. Each time one of these new influences rears its head, the album receives a heavy jolt of energy, dragging my attention back to it.

If it sounds like I'm just throwing word salad at this album, it's only because the album is throwing so much at me. It started this fight and isn't about to let up now. This is a full hour of music, spanning a whopping 21 tracks. Whatever ideas came out, Cosmo seemed to give them their best shot and threw it in. That means some songs are just over a minute, others cross the 5 minute mark. Since Cosmo serves his interests first, this shouldn't come as a surprise, but it's not the most welcome fact to swallow. There's a great album here, but as joyous as it can be to sit across a campfire making s'mores to this music, the fleeting nature of motifs with this setup will eventually frustrate instead of endear.

This frustration can also be felt when these tracks don't add enough to justify their inclusion. Did we really need Flora's Pond, or Tea for Seventeen and Breathe Round Corners ambling along, in succession no less? Especially when Run erases any interest to wade through them on subsequent listens. This compounding of all-too-similar songs isn't made any better when I get the sneaking suspicion I've heard some of these motifs on The Much Much already. How is it that someone with this unique of a voice is already running out of melodies, and still proceeds to lay down 21 tracks?

Bunty makes a few more appearances again, and I would be even happier if the two officially joined forces come next album. Her voice matches the production about as well as Sheldrake's; on Much Much her one song was the headiest of the bunch, and her inclusion continues to cash in on all the potential I wanted from Glass Animals. It's the kind of variety that Sheldrake needs to just get out of his own head from time to time. If he were to make this kind of change, he could offload some of the parts of songwriting that I suspect he has less interest in.

It's hard to say anything of importance when you don't give your listeners enough time to marinate. Gone are the Roald Dahlist lines for the most part, and the ideas they represented are missed. That does allow for a new mood to settle in for quite a few tracks; this is overall a more melancholy offering, and the subdued lyrics follow that pattern. Even the most banging tracks Shiny is the View or Old Ocean don't shake the foundation like Cosmo used to. When the tracks stick around long enough to allow, they can be actually affecting. That's a first, and I'm here for it.

As glad as I am we have more of this music (and I very much am), it's as much a blessing as it is a curse. It reminds me of Radiohead's Kid A creating and perfecting an idea so well, nothing could, or should, try to recapture that mood. When they returned to the mood for The King of Limbs, it just didn't have the same zing. About as much time has passed since Sheldrake's debut, and I feel the same way. I think if about a third of this album was cut out, the dour mood left in the best of the songs would have a much better impression. It's a big part of why I'm not going to be so hard on this album in today's playlist landscape. Still, that thought makes me wonder what could have been if Cosmo had decided to refine the best ideas further instead of allowing his mind to get distracted. I don't think this time I'll warm to the low points, but I will keep coming back for the highs.

7.7/10