Fragments – Salt Cathedral (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It probably says as much about the acts I choose to write about as it does the current trends in music but I see these dreamy, ambient pop-washes as the saviour of commercial music. Pop music has too long been about brash, in-you-face, Day-Glo painted but ultimately empty dross, like a sugar rush that leaves you twitching and unsatisfied.

Salt Cathedral do brush along a musical seam not a million miles away from more mainstream acts as Ellie Goulding but I see this Columbian duo more  part of the slightly leftfield wave of new-pop that is rising up and offering something more substantial for your fan dollar. A wave which includes Lucy Mason, Polar Front and Seconds, pop which seems to come from a more underground point of departure, ticks all the right commercial boxes but offers something that still appeals to a more discerning, underground set.

Fragments is a beguiling mix of trippy pop, skittering oriental sounding synth riffs and a slow burning build towards an epic crescendo. It ties atmosphere and ethereality to an ever growing purpose, remains odd and otherworldly yet still sounds hypnotic and enticing. Maybe music like this is a bit too clever for the mass appeal that it deserves, it would be great if this was the stuff of late night radio and chilled out après club playlists. Maybe it is enough for now that it is our little secret, something us music snobs can bond over and call our own before the secret gets out. Shh…don’t tell anyone, not just yet at least.