Clogs
Lantern
Brassland Records 

It is rare to encounter a musical ensemble that simply cannot be labeled with a genre. Clogs are four musicians from Australia and the United States who come together with their multi-instrumental abilities to combine guitar, banjo, percussion, viola, violin, piano, melodica, and bassoon into a sound uniquely their own. They recently released their fourth album, which combines touches of folk and classical music with the compositional styling of rock and jazz. Each track on the album is an instrumental piece composed in a peaceful and meandering style that, like their genre, cannot be pinpointed or labeled.

One of the key aspects of Clogs’ music is their sensitivity. Ideas are never over-stated and no one musician or instrument dominates the album. Percussion instruments add texture to other musical ideas and repeated melodic ideas create a trance-like feeling. At other times, such as in “Voisins” and “The Song of the Cricket,” it seems as though each piece is telling a short story. No piece is overly busy— the soft and homegrown feel of Clogs’ music takes on a dreamlike quality at times. Their unusual instrumentation creates a unique combination of timbres that would be difficult to find anywhere else—this alone is enough to entice a person to listen to Lantern.

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Website
Clogs website