At times, Cloud Castle Lake’s latest single ‘Bonfire’ sounds like Muse, Slum Sociable, The Antlers, Explosions in the Sky and Wild Beasts. Let that sink in for a bit. To be honest, I’d be happy with four out of five of those similarities. And seriously, I don’t mean these to be insulting or to say the Irish band’s new cut is uninspired. It’s just there’s so much to explore within the seven minute creation and it’s hard to not think of little elements they are nailing (like the building of organic instrumentation or incredible falsetto) and think about contemporaries who have come before Cloud Castle Lake. If anything, these thoughts (excluding Muse) are complementary, because this young and very unknown (in Australia) band are already on par with some of the biggest art-post-alternative-contemporary-rock acts of the last decade (again, excluding Muse). This expansive, sprawling, piece of exploratory art is fascinating to listen to. And somehow it’s pretty damn catchy too.
‘Bonfire’ is out now via Bright Antenna Records.