Artistic freedom is an exhilarating but daunting mission: it requires discipline, competence, broad-mindedness, constant self-reinvention, and can only be pursued in depth through the acceptance of very modest financial rewards – although that’s true for any artistic endeavor. Brooklyn sextet Cloud Becomes Your Hand (already a NYC Record of the Month in this very blog in 2014) is obviously fully dedicated to this cause, within the coordinates of the psychedelic and progressive rock genre (or, as we call it, here at The Deli, ‘Avant-Indie"). As cliche` as this may sound, their new album ‘Rest In Fleas’ truly sounds like kaleidoscope of ideas and sounds. The sonic palette is incredibly diverse, ranging from effected keyboards of all kinds, to detuned electric guitars and unexpected orchestral interruptions. But the record is not a scattered conglomeration of ideas; on the contrary, it sounds more organic than its predecessor, with song structure often prevailing over the band’s quirky "digressing impulses." This contributes to making in one of those records that rewards multiple listens. Those who love this kind of stuff shouldn’t miss the band’s record release party at Secret Project Robot on 06.18, nor the video for ‘Hermit’ streaming below.
