If Clay Joule is known for taking the idea of a popular song form and pushing it into places where most wouldn’t dare, then no more is that notion true than with his latest track, Integral King.
That might seem like a bold statement, but it is entirely justified. Firstly by simple statistics. Whereas most pop and rock songs clock in at three to four minutes, here we find him exploring what the song might be for just under six and a half minutes. But music isn’t just numbers; it is the soundtrack, perhaps rather than song, that he built during that time that is remarkable.
Integral King is a slow and drifting affair, a soundscape built from subtle beats and supple sonics, one woven through with wonderful world music nods to other cultures and styles, geographies, and genres. Along with Truwan Studio stalwarts Elisa Mammoliti and Tindaro Raffaelle, the former creating masterfully ethereal vocal backdrops, the latter helping to build those poised and purposeful atmospherics in song form, Clay has made a beguiling piece that sits in the more cinematic realm, almost feeling like a soundtrack rather than a song. A soundtrack that gracefully gathers sounds from around the world, lilting eastern beats, keening Celtic pipes, vocals that take in the howling and the healing, the delicate and the anthemic via South Asian strings and Western balladic grooves. But a soundtrack to what exactly?
Well, possibly a film, but given the subject matter, Integral King feels more like the focal point of a cause, or at least a teaching moment, with music as a point of discussion and sonics that aim to open a dialogue with a broader audience.
Given the state of the world, watching the banks of dark clouds gathering, the weather fronts of war and greed and power, of ego and ambition closing in, it is only natural to question how we got here. Integral King reminds us that although we seem content to hand over control of our lives, our well-being, our communities and countries, and our very survival to higher powers – mortal ones – leaders and politicians, we have to remind ourselves and in turn, them, that they are not the Integral King’s of the title. It is to such higher powers that we should be looking for guidance.
Even if you don’t see that higher power as a godhead, an ultimate figure, indeed, empathy and humility, love and peace, understanding and unity are all virtues that deed restoring to our lives, with such arms and armour, we can regain control over those wayward, self-appointed prophets who claim authority over us.