Count Counsellor – “Cloud Calls” (Stereogum Premiere)
Sick of waiting for the new James Blake record? You’re in luck. A new UK producer going by the name Count Counsellor is stirring up his own brand new cloud of soul-infused synth music for your enjoyment.
“Cloud Calls,” the first single from Count Counsellor’s debut EP, Count Counsellor & The Childhood Heroes, is kidlike anthem that floats seamlessly up and down for a full five minutes. Around minute three, the track comes to its peak with horn sounds and layered voices, and then slowly fades out as if the listener is exhaling with the music. Here’s how Counsellor described the sound he was shooting for:
We are trying to sound like a young Stevie Wonder, an old Cab Calloway, Mick Hucknall and Mike Skinner touring as a Talking Heads UK garage covers band, sharing a car on the way to a rave in the North East, after attending a Craig David songwriting masterclass in an illustrated film drawn by Maurice Sendak.
Counsellor has previously said that the EP is about his childhood — more specifically, “the moments that shaped [him] and the heroes who elevated [him].” Fitting, because his mentions of playgrounds, best friends, and playing pretend make his music a candidate for an electro-reboot of The Care Bears, but his ear for smart melodies and soulful chants, both with spacey production, make the EP apt for a more mature audience. Listen.
Here’s the tracklist for the EP:
01 “Cloud Calls”
02 “Disco Dodo”
03 “Head Lights”
04 “akidoutthere”
Count Counsellor & The Childhood Heroes is out 7/24 via Quality Time.