Review Summary: There is no such thing as summer without Causa Sui.
After reestablishing themselves last year as a prime psychedelic rock act, releasing the magnificent
Euporie Tide, Causa Sui needn't have rushed to come up with something new for quite a while. The fans are still grasping the beauty of that album, yet the Danish quartet chose to move on. The latest material was born from new jamming sessions with Ron Schneidermann, that ran in parallel with the tight recordings of
Tide. Since these
Pewt'r Sessions are more free jazz-oriented, the guys made sure they threw everything into the mix. As a result, the third volume heavily contrasts his predecessor, plus it even feels the loosest so far from the entire series.
The three tunes are surely cut from hour-long jams and pieced together, especially the 27-minute closer, 'Incipiency Suite'. Oscillating synthesizers and a wah guitar start this prolonged journey, carving the path for the rhythm section which locks itself into a long, steady groove. Then comes the second guitar that leads them, churning from a few sparse notes to Eastern-tinged patterns. The intensity differs as each instrument does its own thing. Around midpoint, new sounds emerge and continue to grow to a familiar, gentle Causa Sui riff. It's all done in the pure hypnotic way we are used to hear, until the gorgeous coda rises in between multiple noisy soundscapes. It is a shame the song ends on such a beautiful note, only because you would expect these chords to be further expanded. Still, we have to remember it's a jam session that works really well at times. Even though it feels like it could have been trimmed a bit, I believe it would have lost its overall vibe.
The two, shorter compositions aren't to be skipped either. Like 'Incipiency Suite', both boast a rather haunting feeling that's more characteristic to the
Pewt'r Sessions. 'Abyssal Plain' starts with a long improvised intro, before morphing into a slow, wobbly piece. The loud climax features some cool drum fills and moaning guitars, that give way to the unsettling lullaby, 'Eutopia', acting like a shorter passage to the mammoth closer. It is quite repetitive, but it features some nice, eerie keyboards and a great, deep bass line.
Even with all the positive aspects put together, the album fails to live up to the really high standards set by
Euporie Tide, unless you really dig jam rock. Of course, you can't look at it with the same eyes since it consists more or less of just a few cool jamming sessions laid to tape. Nevertheless, it's interesting to hear the intense chemistry between the band and Schneidermann and such breaks are welcomed in Causa Sui's discography. However, these free roaming cuts will merely provide you a glimpse of their musical prowess or perhaps a closer look at their usual rehearsals. Of all the
Pewt'r Sessions, this might be weakest and still, it is a solid work that will feed the fans until a proper, studio record lands sometime soon (fingers crossed).
s
