With their new album Somewhere Good, Bristol-based Tara Clerkin Trio present their most coherent work to date. Singer Tara Clerkin, her partner Sunny-Joe Paradiso and his brother Patrick Benjamin move with assurance and feeling between chamber jazz, playful electronics, pop and lo-fi experiments. A piece born from improvisation such as »Ups & Downs« simmers for minutes with harmonium, double bass and clarinet before cool-jazz beats and a looped vocal sample turn everything into a sticky pop dream.
Songs such as »Lazy Daisy« seduce with trip-hop dream pop reminiscent of early Broadcast or Pram releases. A tune like »Silently« captivates with dreamy Sade cool-jazz charm, while the closing piece »Movin’ On« drifts open-heartedly between loop madness, 8-bit fantasy, world jazz and cosmic electronics. The trio’s lyrics address themes such as self-sabotage and gentrification, yet the album never lapses into melancholy. Intoxicating melodies, sensitive effects, relaxed rhythms and surprising instrumentation provide the necessary light in the darkness of the words that Tara Clerkin breathes into the microphone with unforced sexiness.
