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Rating: The albums by Cloud Cult are like an avalanche that overwhelms you and takes you on a turbulent journey where the distance between order and disorder is very weak. Once you enter this world, you find yourself completely disoriented by the constant alternation of slow and fast rhythms, electronic and acoustic arrangements, gloomy and sunny atmospheres.
Craig Minowa, the group's leader, has stated that this might be Cloud Cult's last work. "Feel Good Ghosts," as the six musicians from Minneapolis have accustomed us, is a Concept Album in which all the songs are designed to shape a forty-minute message of suggestions, which will not leave the listener's sensitivity intact.
The beauty and perfection of the song are not the author's main goals. In every single track, the centrality of the voice and the message the author wants to convey is evident. Nearly all the tracks are oblique, twisted, contorted; they are living songs that grow, change in seconds, and often end abruptly.
For this reason, "Feel Good Ghosts" is a very emotional Alternative-Rock album, Psychedelic yet conscious, with many Freak-Folk influences, once again confirming Cloud Cult as one of the best bands in musical avant-garde: avant-garde Rock.
Craig Minowa is an artist and an arrangement genius, capable of navigating acoustic melodies and Eels-like electronic atmospheres with equal ease. The song structure never follows a monotonous pattern. The arrangements of the tracks are crafted to integrate with the emotion conveyed by the song's lyrics. In addition to classic instruments like keyboards, guitars, and drums, strings, brass, and organ are used; the rhythm is sometimes marked by a simple handclap; the melodies are, at times, introduced by whistling or the sound of a music box. Additionally, there is great attention to the architecture of the choirs and vocals reminiscent of the Beach Boys' golden years.
The album starts from the apparent electric disorder of "No One Said It Would Be Easy," a very angry rock song with an incisive and persistent electric guitar theme. The most emotional and intricate piece - "When Water Comes To Life" - begins with an orchestral melody led by violin arpeggios that introduces us to an enigmatic and dark atmosphere, gradually transforming into a sunny pop track that closes with the chorus sung by the choir. A masterpiece!
Folk-Pop tracks like "The Ghost Inside Our House" or "Journey Of The Featherless" recall the acoustic and luminous atmospheres of Belle and Sebastian. The electricity of guitars and synthesizers reappears in "It's What You Need," and songs like "May Your Hearts Stay Strong" and "The Will Of A Volcano" take the album to a much darker and more pessimistic dimension.
Feel Good Ghosts is not a simple record, it's a story; and the avalanche of suggestions it communicates concludes with a touching final ballad - "Love You All" - dominated by the grace and harmony of a choral song, with which the author seems to apologize for his faults and gives the entire album the meaning of a declaration of love for life.
We can only hope that the story of Cloud Cult doesn't end here - strongly marked by the personal events of the Minowa family - who once again prove to be outsiders and true champions of the contemporary Rock scene.
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