Cosmic Handshake – When Mountains Speak (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Some bands are all about pushing sonic boundaries. Some are about quick-fire work rates, creating impressive bodies of work in seemingly short periods. Some break the rules (some barely know the rules are even there). Some make us feel. Some make us think about the nature of music and what it can be. Some make songs merely to entertain. Some write music that connects you with bigger issues. Music can fulfil many roles, but few bands can do all those things simultaneously. When Mountains Speak is one of those rare bands that does.

Returning to their trio format, “Cosmic Handshake” sees them doing what they do best, working between melody and adventure, bending musical forms to the edge of breaking point, but not quite. Here, as is their purpose, the drums provide the structure that tethers everything down, allowing the basslines to pulse, pop, meander, and meditate. And across the top, Steven Clarkson’s experimental guitar weaves through the spaces above, below, behind, and beyond the music.

What does it all mean? Well, that’s the great thing about When Mountains Speak: you are given just a title and a vibe, and everything else is open to interpretation; it can mean whatever you want. This time out, the cover might suggest our connection with other life in the universe, cosmic close encounters and the like. Beyond that, you are on your own.

But in general, their adventurous music could push you to contemplate life, consider your place in the universe, look into your soul, it is music of the megaverse, the multi-verse and the microsphere, music for the head, the heart and the very soul, all at once. How great is that?