Swallowtail and the Kaleidoscope - Barefoot

Swallowtail and the Kaleidoscope

Barefoot
self-released; 2024

​By ​Dino DiMuro

From the mountains of Washington State comes the teeming ensemble known as Swallowtail and the Kaleidoscope with their brand-new single, "Barefoot." Formed in 2022 by Matt Armbrust and Emele Clothier after a summer of gigging, they decided to label their unique sound as "Indie-cana" (I added the dash for clarity!). In 2023, Murray Sampson joined on keys and backing vocals, and the trio is frequently joined by a large, ever-changing roster of freelancers known as "The Kaleidoscope," making music described as "lo-fi, jazzy, and folk."

Prior to forming the band, Armbrust was a globally recognized composer and classical violinist, while Clothier had a five-decade solo career along with a role in the acclaimed Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band. Their first album together, Electric Horse, showed influences from Buck Owens and Joni Mitchell (Clothier) alongside Fugazi, Peter Gabriel, and J.S. Bach (Armbrust). Their songs were said to "straddle the realms of timeless nostalgia and contemporary innovation."

Playing the group's five-minute track on Spotify, I immediately noticed the very large onstage ensemble in the band photo. Though I don’t hear the string section in this track, it has the sound and feel of a very large room full of players. It's very much an acoustic vibe, with left-field additions like jew's harps. You can actually feel the depth of the room in the recording, though Armbrust's and Clothier's vocals were possibly added later. As lead singer, Armbrust has a disarming, genuine quality, with Clothier providing lovely, gentle harmony. In trying to guess all the instruments I’m hearing, I came up with electric guitar, accordion, piano, harmonica, drums, and a quick blast of fuzz toward the end. The bands this song reminded me of most were The Grateful Dead and the more country excursions by The Rolling Stones (especially with the Nicky Hopkins-like piano).

Lyrically, this is an amusing but inscrutable lament by a hound dog that senses a coming storm from a feeling in his knee. An alternate title could have been "(I Don’t Need No) Walking Blues." As with most songs featuring animal characters, you wonder at what point these characters stand in for humans, but I loved imagining the story exactly as sung. The lead vocals become more intense and invested as the song continues, which works great with the full-band sound.

​This is another intriguing, immersive track by a very interesting collective. Check it out!

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