HE REALLY is spoiling us, is Cheval Sombre, the transporting, ethereal folk-shoegaze guising of Chris Porpora; who, not content with the hushed emotional whirlwind of Time Waits For No One, his album from back in February, is shortly to drop his second album of the year, an album that works in lighter correspondence with the first, Days Go By.
And without further ado, let’s cleanse ourselves in the loveliness of the latest single to come from that album, “Sunlight In My Room”. It comes accompanied by a beautiful animated video by Lucas Moreira and Cristiana Figueiredo, which you can watch below.
Chris describes the single as “a flowery lament for a friend who has drifted away. A memory of perfection, of the purity of snow falling once in a moment of perfect togetherness, full of grace – but a heavy acknowledgment of loss, ultimately praising the magnitude of such a connection.” He knows the beauty in the pain, acknowledges it, and transforms it into something of otherworldly beauty. We should be grateful of such alchemists.
He says it was written about his friendship with Pete Kember, aka Spacemen 3 legend Sonic Boom, who produced the new album.
“Sunlight In My Room” sees a skeleton of lazy country fleshed with echo and reverb and the universality of a solitary moment of epiphany and knowledge.
“You’ve got all these songs around conceptions of time, it’s over eight years since your last album, you decide to release twin records, and their release dates somehow fall in line with the unfolding present,” marvels Chris of how his twin creative peaks have arrived in a synchronous fashion with a slower, more introspective globe.
“Time Waits for No One is a dark record, reminiscent of the shadowy days of winter, the trials of the pandemic. If Days Go By can coincide with the promise of springtime, bringing with it light, lifting spirits – then I know my work has been done,” he adds.
We’ve lived and loved the new album already here at Backseat Mafia, and we summate it thus: “Days Go By certainly shines a different light back at its fraternal companion, Time Waits For No One; it approaches its theme of time passing with a lightness and obliquity, easing its way around the chafe of the ticking clock with simplicity, and presenting with what must be a mere millimetre shifts of emphasis more of a gossamer country or psych-folk journey than its darker correspondent of February with sweet pain in its heart.
“I’m taking it outside now, to listen to in the sun.
“As Blake also said, ‘Without contraries is no progression’; by a strict reading of that, we should go explore that place between the two pillars. Explore how the two relate, diverge; immerse in two very fine sound worlds. You have time; use it wisely.
“My advice? Buy em both. Begin the journey. Amazing, grace.”
Look out for our full review of Days Go By in a fortnight’s time.
Cheval Sombre’s Days Go By will be released by Sonic Cathedral digitally, on CD and on vinyl on May 28th; you can pre-order your copy from Sonic Cathedral direct, from Rough Trade, and from Cheval Sombre direct at Bandcamp.
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