The Color of Cyan Leaves You Agape on New Album
By Deuce
It’s not hard to tell where The Color of Cyan was focused on its latest LP, Agape. The band has a nine minute ode devoted to the “Sun in Leo”. “Moon in Cancer” gets over six minutes of play, while another tune is entitled “Little Stars”.
Consequently, this quartet demonstrates the capacity to go beyond the mundane, both literally and figuratively, on this assortment of songs. Its formula is certainly interesting. Most of these numbers are either entirely bereft of snares or employ them very sparingly. There are electric guitars, but they’re more like tubed than they are any sort of grunge or rock and roll variety.
Moreover, several of these cuts sound like they benefit from synths or at least some form of keyboard, although none are listed in the credits, which identify Eduardo Cintron as producer and the man behind the guitars, Henry Cole on the drums, Jorge Santana strumming the live bass, and Rene Torres on the violin, of all things.
Thus, the project functions as a funky, interstellar-oriented form of chamber music. Many of the tracks are slow and, on some occasions, even somber. That’s certainly the feeling “Summer Days” gives off, especially with the low string notes Torres supplies. However, this one is heavily characterized by a somewhat distorted, yet definitely tremulous electric guitar slowly cascading along, again and again. The bass is slow, the chords are fairly pronounced, and the drums play the background with just a touch of kicks, cymbals, and other forms of percussion.
“Leo”, however, features the best guitar performance on the LP. Again, it’s more tubed than electric, and the musician is working some kind of effect that’s damn near ineffable, and likely benefits from at least a pair of tracks of this instrument. Even a casual listen to this piece, or any of the ones on this collection, yields insight into what must have been studio sessions full of heavy concentration as these instrumentalists (there aren’t too many vocals on this album) vie with one another for the top spot while gelling together to make something that’s seemingly greater than the sum of their individual parts.
Such accomplishments aren’t easily come by, and are behooved by genuine—if not cosmic—influences, as this Long Player demonstrates.
