Album review: CAIRO – Say
[Release date 03.10.16] www.cairorocks.com
Following his departure from Touchstone, keyboardist and founder member Rob Cottingham has chosen not to resurrect his Captain Blue solo persona, but to throw himself into a new project with a new band – Cairo.
Much remains the same, in that Cottingham was looking for evolution with ‘heavier passages with more ambient electronic soundscapes’ – rather than wholesale change. So key elements of the Touchstone sound remain – the material is all written by Cottingham, Rachel Hill provides female vocals, and John Mitchell continues to steer production. James Hards, Paul Stocker and Graham Brown complete the line up on guitars, bass and drums respectively.
While Touchstone had latterly become somewhat stagnant, Cairo sound fresh and energised. That said I’m not convinced that spoken word prologues aren’t a little passé these days and with Say we effectively get two intros – the ambient flute laden, Eastern influenced ‘Cairo’, followed by the narrated ‘Shadow’s Return’ which, while effective, will almost certainly influence the placing of repeat needle drops.
But skip the ‘starter’, and the main course finds Cottingham and Co. on familiar ground. While never too far removed from the Touchstone format, Say has a much punchier delivery and Rachel Hill provides a very balanced vocal counterpoint – making a hugely valuable contribution, without ever becoming the focal point.
The pairing of ‘The Shadow’s Return’ and ‘Wiped Out’ serve a potent signal of intent – balancing power and poise, with the epic centrepiece ‘Nothing To Prove’ – while for the most part melodic, and with Cottingham and Hill very effectively sharing vocals – having one beast of a riff which is certain to make the number a live favourite.
‘Katrina’ and ‘Searching’ provide a melodic balance, and when Hill steps forward on ‘Random Acts Of Kindness’ – another powerful grower, and ‘Back From Wilderness’ – she proves to be a real ‘find’.
But let’s not forget the rest of the band – there’s a real cohesion about Say that successfully marries elements of the Touchstone sound and the more ambient aspects of Cottingham’s solo work. In that sense Say is very much a case of ‘mission achieved’ and is quite possibly Cottingham’s finest work yet. ****1/2
Review by Pete Whalley
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Latest session: Sunday 25 February
Next session: Sunday 14 April
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 March 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 19 March 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 1 April 2024
NESTOR Victorious (Napalm)
CADET CARTER Strangers (SBAM Records)
ARENA What’s Your Damage (indie)
ONLAP Never Too Late (AFM Records)
BLACK SONIC PEARLS Black Butterfly (indie)
RENDEZVOUS POINT Don’t Look Up (Long Branch Records)
WILDSTREET Come Down (Golden Robot Records)
Featured Albums w/c 1 April 2024
09:00-12:00 CIRCLE OF FRIENDS Cherokee Moon (Escape Music)
12:00-13:00 MYRATH Karma (earMUSIC)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023
To see our Tweets you need to be logged in to a Twitter account
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections