Leaving the rest of the bass-driven musical world green with envy, Cloud Boat recently supported James Blake on his national tour. Choosing not to capitalize on this, the duo’s diminutive web presence and choice of an unmemorable name has placed a lot of pressure solely on their musical talent. Given that their only available track is a YouTube recording from Giles Peterson on Radio 1, their live show remains the best way to demonstrate this. In a similar vein to their appearance they begin, strumming and singing unobtrusively and doing little to draw the attention of their unenthusiastic audience. Yet with the press of a button the hull of Thekla is flooded, not by the surrounding water of the Avon, but by a torrent of deep and textured, bass-filled sound. Lines on the Beach, their only available material, follows much the same blueprint. Starting with the stripped down, Burial-like, two-step snare beats, the track explodes into life with reverberating guitar slides and distorted vocals, transporting the listener to the deserted, rain-soaked, murky beach which surely inspired the song’s name. With the imminent release of Lines of the Beach, this absorbing act will be available to far more that the most eager of James Blake fans.
