cable & Cable - sailway

Cable & Cable

Sailway
Blue Agata; 2013

3.9 out of 5

By Demeria Harris

Picture it: there are two guys, one from Japan, one from Chile. They meet in a Japanese online community, and decide to combine their shared love of making music to create an album (you’ve just got to love technology). What was the result of their efforts? You get Cable and Cable’s offering Sailway, a bold and robust album offering a surprising variety of sounds and flavors that come together to make beautiful music soup.

There are some higher-toned songs here that dance along the upper end of the spectrum. A good example is the first song “Wake up” which, true to its title, blasts immediately into an upbeat, intergalactic melody. The whole song sounds like something out of Doctor Who, and serves as a great way to start the album. “Precious and Sad” and “Come to me” also have this plucky, twinkling style, and are really fun songs to nod your head to.

The magic happens with the deeper songs, though. “Without Words” oozes with 80’s pop, but starts with a heavy intro that gives the song meat, much like “Memories of Lies.” Both songs are extremely catchy, particularly the latter. 

My personal favorite was “Mira Atrás” an industrial alternative pop rock styled song that works exceedingly well and could be worth the band expanding on later. The vocals are sung in Spanish, which really puts the cherry on top. It is followed by “Behind the Dusk,” which is a fascinating instrumental that just creeps into your blood vessels. “Girar Girar” could be the upbeat, more pop-centric brother of “Mira Atrás” though it still has a rock flavor. It’s also in Spanish. These three songs comprise the power trio of the album, and if you’re short on time are worth listening to first.

One of the things that makes this album great is the unique sound of blending cultures from two different areas to make wonderful music. Much of their sound seems influenced by Japanese pop, while the vocals bring a taste of the Americas into the fray. You can tell that they are two people that gel well together, given the optimistic and forward-facing tone of the whole album. 

I would like to hear an album that focused mainly on the heavier songs. Those were the most unique and impressive, and had a slightly different effect on me than the more airy songs. All in all, this is a great album to listen to, particularly in the company of others, and I look forward to their next album.

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