Radio Exile | Salt & Samovar – Old Joy, New Joy Review

Salt & Samovar – Old Joy, New Joy Review

By Shawn M. Smith October 16, 2007 Post a comment | Email the author

Salt & Samovar – MySpace, CD Baby

Like the whirling organs pulsing behind a gigantic church choir, our first introduction to Salt & Samovar (“Swallowed A Pill”) is a powerful statement, one of love and the pure, simple joy of creating music. Recorded this past winter during a prolonged cold spell in New York, metropolitan music has never sounded more optimistic in the face of harsh realities of city life. How a band that lives in the sometimes-oppressive confines of this tangled mess of wire and concrete could create an album touched with so many moments of elation is astounding. Most of what passes as “ground breaking” in this city isn’t all that different from any number of a million other bands that didn’t get the breaks necessary to make money as a touring band. Salt & Samovar are different; having played their very first show in France, they eventually settled in Brooklyn and have been gigging across the country since their return in late 2006.

Each copy of Old Joy, New Joy is one-of-a-kind; their packaging is hand-screened and comes with a 16-page booklet of liner notes with lyric, music and illustrations designed by the band. The pacing and structure of this record makes it the perfect soundtrack by which one should set the cruise control and head for the Adirondacks on a brisk Autumn morning. Much of the epic feel of this album involves a subtle balancing act, as if the two seemingly dissimilar parts meet halfway across a bridge in the middle of the night and high above over the muddy waters below, they quietly walk home. On “Swallowed A Pill,” the gentle sprinkling of piano balances against the sharp strings. “We Will Break” features the simple beauty of muted bass and vocal chants. The band’s stand out moments should define the album and the rich, full-textured sound will stay with anyone who spends time with the album for a long time after the first listen.

Featuring songs that speak volumes about nothing and everything all at once, they come around very rarely, and it shows a breadth of skill and massive amount of passion to create the kind of music that moves someone to the very depths of their soul. Old Joy, New Joy is a new type of album, equal parts precision, thunder, faith healings and jam-rock for people who don’t like jam-rock. Too many bands try to do too much in a first effort to not only impress, but to leave the listener with something to walk away with and rave about before their next listen. Salt & Samovar want to put their best foot forward and more often than not Old Joy, New Joy slides along like at the deliberate pace that they set, establishing them as an act to be remembered.