Palimpsest – Three Cane Whale (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

When I hear the word fusion applied to musical creations I think of horrible soul sucking experiments where fashionistas try to force a new trend by slicing rap deliveries onto free jazz or blend glitchy electronica with folk music. The result is normally shallow and unlistenable. If only there was another way. Well, I’m not sure how they do it but Three Cane Whale seems to have pulled it off. This multi-instrumental acoustic trio play with sounds gathered from such disparate sources as English folk music, minimalist classical, found medieval sounds and chilled movie soundtracks to create a blend which seems to have come together by osmosis rather than any forced hand.

The result is utterly charmingly pastoral, wonderfully unique and effortlessly timeless. It is as if the three musicians, rather than take the tried and tested root of writing and playing music have instead performed some sort of illicit ritual to an ancient earth deity and recorded the sounds sent to them from his underworld realm. It is quintessentially British, speaks of giants and gods, rolling landscapes, cascading waterfalls, still dark lakes and something intangible from a forgotten time. A glance at the titles seems to confirm this to be an area of interest to them and consequently the 21 tracks found here sound like the metabolic functions of a living landscape, its very heartbeat, its breath.

It is nothing short of enchanting, a chilled soundtrack that tugs heart strings, soothes modern worries and talks to the soul in a very ancient language indeed.