Artist Of The Decade : Cleo Sol's Gold
Cleo Sol's Gold
Alright guys I know… There’s been a lot of Cleo Sol content recently. This newsletter, blog, community, page, whatever we want to call it, is still very very much in it’s infancy, yet this will be the 3rd time that I’ve spoken about a project involving Cleo Sol and you know what? I’M NOT GOING TO APOLOGISE FOR IT, but unless she just so happens to release more music in the near future, this will be the last time we speak about her for a LITTLE bit. Gimme a minute because I want to wax lyrical about her. Since her first album in 2020, Cleo Sol has released music consistently across both her solo discography and with SAULT (SAULT albums dating back to 2019) and if you ask ME for my humble opinion, she has released multiple classics albums in this time period. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, a lot of these albums are very new and perhaps their status will grow within time, so perhaps if I don’t deem them classics now, at this point they are still great projects in my eyes that I hold dearly. For me, as of this very stage in time, Rose In The Dark, Mother, Untitled (God), 5 & 7 are classics and all her work in the 2020’s has led me to a big big realisation regarding her artistry. Now this is a big statement so we are going to neglect this paragraph to try and make it seem like a statement of huge gravity and importance.
Simply, Cleo Sol is the artist of the decade.
(So far), I know we are only 4 calendar years into the decade but to me, she has taken a strong lead and we have a lot of time left, but it’ll take a lot to try and usurp her from the top spot right now. I’d personally say that her closest competitor (outside of this SAULT clique) is Nas, after the great run of albums he & Hit-Boy have been on to start the 2020’s. But I digress, I guess the important question would be if Gold is factored into my thinking when speaking about all of this, we’ll unpack that as we speak about it.
Now, I cannot speak about Gold without speaking about Heaven before
.
We of course had our discourse on Heaven already and whilst I do like a lot of songs, I had sat with it still being somewhat disappointed and wanting more. So when I unexpectedly saw on TWITTER that Gold was coming out, a mere 2 weeks after Heaven, my hopes were renewed and I knew that a quality album was coming. Like I had mentioned in our Heaven review, Gold feels like Cleo may have realised that Heaven was not up to a certain standard and came with Gold within the same month. With all this being said, let’s finally talk about Gold.
For us here at SoulPower, how you open an album is important, it’s paramount to making a great project. Liken it to opening credit scenes in a movie or how you begin a letter, a speech, a monologue, etc. It needs to have an impact, signal some intent. That being said, the SoulPower team see it as equally important to end the album well, and Gold (title track) ends the album so strongly. With how I currently feel about the project, the LP is bookended by its 2 best tracks.
There Will Be No crying was the track teased before the album’s release, snippets were on social media and I’d genuinely play the snippet on loop before the song had even come out. Firstly, I have to give credit and highlight Inflo’s contribution to making the song what it is. As is well known by now, Inflo produces all of Cleo Sol’s music and this song carries such a heavy feel, in large part due to the instrumentation and production. The tempo of the drums and the whining-like sounds - of what I think is a wah guitar but I am not knowledgeable enough to confirm - draw so much emotion and Cleo’s efforts on the song aid this immensely. Now, I have to admit I do have a SLIGHT bone to pick with Cleo (I’m sure she’ll see this). So… Whenever I listen to a Cleo Sol album, I am mesmerised by her choice in melody, subject matter, etc, HOWEVER, being a fan of SAULT (I do believe no one listens to them more than I do, like genuinely I’m sure of it) I believe that her music and approach is far different on those projects, in comparison to her solo work. Now sonically, SAULT and Cleo Sol albums are 2 different forces of nature anyway, Cleo’s music is more subdued and bedded by acoustic, conventional production whilst SAULT has a much more experimental and chaotic sound, but this isn’t my “issue”. I’ve noticed that the Cleo’s vocal performances within SAULT are far different to those in her own discography, it may be a direct result of the production styles differing but I see that on SAULT albums, Cleo’s style is more eccentric, more daring and far more showing of her full vocal range. If I was to reference this point and show evidence, both Glory & Higher by SAULT are prime examples of this. On these 2 songs in particular, the best way to describe it is that she sings her heart out, in all honesty, it is quite Syren-like and I feel that she had never really done this on her own albums. Now I’d have no issue with this if I didn’t know that she was capable of this, but now that I know her ability, I want to hear the peaceful, tranquil Cleo Sol and the passionate, aggressively soulful Cleo Sol on one of her albums, is it too much to ask? I say all that to circle back and say that on There Will Be No Crying…. SHE FINALLY DID IT. The last vocal stretch she goes on towards the end of the song around 3:22 is astounding and it makes you wonder as to why she doesn’t flaunt this ability more often. All in all, the opener to Gold is definitely one of Cleo & Inflo’s most soulful songs, with the passionate main vocals, instrumental & gospel inspired backing vocals all working so seamlessly together, especially in the final minute where everything seems to intensify and feel that bit more emotional, creating an all-time great Cleo Sol song.
So Whilst There Will Be No Crying is is a mellow, but still uplifting opener, Gold (the titular track) is a far more joyous and upbeat song, a more happiness inducing track to close the album, quite consistent with Cleo’s catalogue as other album closers like Her Light & Spirit are also quite triumphant and bright finishers. But I claimed that this is one of the two best songs on the album, so let me explain why it is (to me). Firstly, the chorus is so attention grabbing and are the first words we hear on the song, the harmonising on the hook add a layer of ambience to an already beautiful song, I’m not sure its an exact science but harmonies just seem to always give vocals more power (when done well) and I’m always here for that. One thing about Cleo Sol, she consistently writes lines full of encouragement and positivity. “I believe your love is gold, I receive your love is gold” is an anthemic hook (Autocorrect is telling me “anthemic” isn’t a word but if it isn’t, it is now) and lines like “focus on your dreams and goals” or “fear will slow you down and not help you grow (followed by the chorus)” are inspiring, warm and so on brand for Cleo. Most importantly, how does this song make me FEEL? This song makes me feel love, makes me feel hope. It’s an injection of happiness and feeling that you’ll be okay, that you as a person, as a soul are more than enough, and ‘love yourself RnB’ is a great sub-genre that I’ll always appreciate. The song gets better as it goes on too, Cleo turns it up a few notches at 2:58 as the song just oozes more positivity, imagine a song you can listen to on a warm, spring day as the sun sets, yes… that’s a while away right now but whenever you need you shot of happiness, the titular track on Gold is waiting for you, trust me, if you haven’t heard it… please listen to it after you’re finished here, but my praise for the song doesn’t stop there. When it comes to songs that share a name with their respective album, I have high expectations. Follow me here though, because in my head, if THIS is the song you are naming the album after (or vice versa), it has to hold some gravity and deliver, think 4 Your Eyez Only (J Cole) or The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill for example, titular tracks that are also one of the best songs on their respective albums. Not only this but they are also songs that encapsulate the themes and intent of their album, and Gold exists in the same sense as it is easily one of the best songs on Cleo’s 4th LP. Think of it this way, imagine the song that shares a title with your album is the worst song on your album… it’s not a good look, is it? Gold avoids this and is a beacon of light, mountaintopping a great album (that’s a new word too).
Thematically, I feel that this album is very interesting too. Now, these are all interpretations/opinions, so I am not sure if they are done purposefully, but for the sake of conversation, let’s pretend that they are. So, as to be expected, the overarching theme of Gold (and all Cleo Sol albums) is love. But in my listening experience, I wanted to dig a slight bit deeper in understanding how Gold differs from other albums in Cleo’s catalogue. I feel her first 2 albums are more biographical and go into more detail about her life and experiences of love in her personal contexts, whereas Gold is slightly shifted in perspective, it feels like the singer is more focused on giving more universal messages of affirmation/realisation of self worth, maybe dedicated to a specific person, but likely to be universal messages for all that will listen. I say this because of the messaging on songs like Gold, Life Will Be, There Will Be No Crying and In Your Home, where it feels as if she herself in giving advise/instruction, rather than recounting something that has happened to her. Now obviously, personal experiences allow for the wisdom to be given in the first place, but the language used in these songs shifts perspective and the angle of a given song. This thought, along with the song Golden Child being on Heaven and not Gold, makes me believe that Heaven and Gold were MAYBE supposed to be one album before, or a double album. One is more micro, another is more macro and surely the song Golden Child should be on Gold… right??? However personally, i am glad that they exist as two different projects as I definitely prefer Gold to Heaven and Cleo Sol albums never overstay their welcome, Gold is no exception to this, if you want to know how much I like Gold… I ordered the vinyl the day after it came out… I wasted no time, got the limited edition golden vinyl too.
Now although I am praising this album to this degree, I have some slight personal ‘criticisms’. For me, this isn’t a huge issue but just a preference, i would have loved to hear the instrumentals develop more. I feel that Inflo offers a great canvas for Cleo but I do feel at times that beats can feel somewhat monotonous and a beat switch or change in tempo mid song would only help in deepening the texture of Gold. I feel it was a big factor of what made Mother so great, the variation and density in musicality aided the journey that Cleo took listeners on, more experimenting or presenting more sounds would have been welcomed by me. Also, Only Love Can Wait is the only song that I’m not intrigued by. I feel it lacks any qualities that make it stand out in any way and it somewhat halts the momentum of the album, before Please Don’t End It All gets us back on track. As soon as I heard Please Don’t End It All, I wanted to send it to a friend straight away, I thought they’d really like the song. HOWEVER, I’m glad my better judgment won and I didn’t send it, merely because I’m not sure how it looks being sent a song called ‘Please Don’t End It All’ 😂, like if someone sent me a song with that title… I’d be momentarily taken aback for sure 😂, great song nonetheless.
Overall, I feel what this album does well is deliver a message of hope. It guides a listener to the conclusion that there are better days ahead and that staying true to self is key to prosperity. Cleo has always placed backing vocals and harmonies very effectively and they are very gospel inspired throughout, as is much of the subject matter and this gospel-natured approach only enhances the soulful feel of Gold, as some of Cleo Sol’s most soulful exist here. I feel that some of her most joyful moments exist here too, Gold (the song), Reason, Life Will Be and the second half of Lost Angel especially are incredibly joyous and all call for celebration, they are bright songs and stop an album from feeling mundane or at too slow of a tempo. Another thing that I find helps the tempo of Gold (and Cleo and Info’s work in general) is that often, the songs build until they reach a peak of intensity/splendour, or often a song with start with one tempo, the chorus will be a complete switch in tempo and then it will return to the original tempo, think of it in a sort of swelling motion or like an accordion. An example of this on Gold would be Desire, or elsewhere within Cleo Sol/Inflo collaborations like the Titular track on Rose In The Dark or Black by SAULT, so this is a trademark of theirs that I have picked up on and will now always look forward to, give me more songs that don’t feel like a straight line… if that makes sense.
Now, I’d be a disgrace to myself, my country, my family and all the etc’s if I didn’t mention Reason in a bit more depth. Reason is very reggae-centric, the beat is pure reggae and the track is one of the many bright spots on the album, I personally would love to see Cleo Sol make more songs similar to this, Shine & High are really the only other songs in her discography that so overtly tap into her Jamaican roots and I think its a hit every time she does it. In this very moment, I am realising how much I have actually written in review of this album, but we’re going to keep on going, let’s talk about Reason’s uncredited feature. As is the case with all Sol’s albums, there are no features on them, but if you’re listening, you can hear Chronixx come in at around 2:40 and now Reason can be added to the multiple Cleo/Inflo/Chronixx collaborations and it is definitely one of their best, it is so feel-good and a great way to follow up on the more heavy There Will Be No Crying, Reason is the opening of curtains on a sunny day following the waking up of There Will Be No Crying.
Reason is followed up by Things Will Get Better, a song that carries such warmth (I find myself using that word a lot when describing her music), the production and melodies makes it feel somewhat dark, but the message (and messenger) is strong enough to protrude and make something stunning, Things Will Get Better feels like beauty born in stillness or solace, a song so cinematic that I cannot help but love it. I can imagine a lot of Cleo/Inflo music being used in film scores in the future, so when it is, think of them… But also think of SoulPower *wink*.
Finally *exhales*, this album feels important in many ways, I feel this album came at the right time, it is a great retaliation to what Heaven was and shows that it was just a slight dip (everyone is allowed a slight dip), whilst also showing how consistently she can produce great music, let’s bare in mind that she has been heavily involved in near 15 projects since 2019 when we factor in her work with SAULT & Little Simz. Thus, still giving quality projects is an accomplishment in itself, but I do see this album to be in the same stratosphere as Rose In The Dark & Mother, so it is a welcome addition into Cleo’s discography in my eyes. Now, to me it is not better than Rose In The Dark, but Gold & Mother can spar each other and it will be a fair fight in my eyes. Gold is home to some of Cleo’s best vocal performances, Gold is full of many an uplifting mantra, Gold is a precious LP drenched in love, faith and will power, a great listen.
Top 3 Tracks :
Gold
There Will Be No Crying
Things Will Get Better
Shoutouts :
Cleo Sol’s Website - https://cleo-sol.com
Gold On Spotify :
Gold On Youtube :
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lvsMUMwotUvE1n2MdG8X6lPa1kwY_OuEY&feature=shared
Gold On Apple Music :
https://music.apple.com/gb/album/gold/1708971575