Album Articulation #1: Alchemy Creek by Cloud Cult
How a snowy creek helps define healing and catharsis.
I need to think it’s gonna be okay
I need to think it’s gonna be okay
We’re tumbling through the universe
Screaming for all we’re worth
Is it a blessing or is it a curse
That it’s as beautiful as it hurts
As Beautiful As It Hurts - Cloud Cult
Album Articulation #1
Artist: Cloud Cult
Album: Alchemy Creek
Released: August 8, 2024
Genre: Self-Help Rock
Notable Songs
The Universe Woke Up As You
Love the sentimentality of this title and the build up to repetition.I Am a Force Field
The desperation in the cracking voice and swelling strings!As Beautiful As It Hurts
Stillness in the pain, muted pleading.Let It All Out
A cathartic trip. Instrumentals take you on a clear journey.Different Kind of Day
A finale summing up the contemplations of healing and reaching out to the audience to join in.
Vibes
Modern folksy tones, akin to Mumford and Sons.
Use of drone/pedal tones contrasted with moments of dissonance.
Vocals are both wispy and firm, sometimes uses Tom Petty-eqsue pronunciation, drawn out vowels such as used in heartland rock.
Content with moments of stillness, almost zen-like and contemplative.
Not every song has a peak, “As Beautiful As It Hurts” even though speaking of screaming remains eerily calm.
Primal-sounding hand-drum rhythms, raw acoustic strumming.
Every song gives a different ways of coping, from pleading, screaming, giving in, sharing.
Backing vocals used sparingly and purposeful to show there can be comradery in our suffering. Encouragement that you are not alone.
Album Cover Connections
Horizontal division of the back of tree line and the foreground creek edge.
Melting snow, we have weathered a storm, the cold will fall away and we will experience rebirth.
Deep contrast in the image between the light of the sky, just visible beyond reach, and the muddy, dirty creek edge that we must cross.
The scene almost feels abandoned but there's life in a companion, the dog, and a bright green tree next to the rusty-orange home.
Use of a chalky, typewriter-like thin font is almost not visible from a distance,
“Alchemy” is transformation of matter. Transformation of healing.
The creek is natural and a specific chosen location. A biblical reference as well:
Psalm 1:3
"And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper".
Water brings life and relief, transforming guilt, grief, and more into catharsis. Maybe never peace, but a journey of healing.