Cloudeater releases final offering, 'Purge'
Genre-bending Atlanta quintet Cloudeater drops final full-length, produced by Prefuse 73
Describing a band's sound as "hard to define" usually serves as a catchall for dabbling in more than two or three genres at a time, taking the most superficial qualities of each and checking the interesting ideas at the door. But as Cloudeater has shown in the past, those cues can be synthesized into a compelling, sincere love letter to those original ideas and sounds. The Atlanta quintet who recently dissolved as a functioning entity, just dropped Purge, Cloudeater's third LP and first produced by Guillermo Scott Herren (Prefuse 73, Delarosa & Asora, Piano Overlord, Savath & Savalas, et. al.). Previously, the group fared in '90s-happy rock anthems and electronica's studio sheen, seen best on tracks like "Hardly Wait" from Sun and Sidearm.
This time around, Cloudeater has returned with a set of songs that reveal the band's comfort in its own sound, jamming out on its own vibes. "Hedron" and the album's title track flow with a mid-tempo pulse of processed rhythms and natural melodies that are both dark and uplifting. "Hollow" drives a murk of funky post-trip hop that would feel right at home alongside Anticon's "pop" experimenters like Why? and 13 & God. Herren's refined production techniques let each track breathe with a breezy modernism normally reserved for his own non-Prefuse material. In the end, Purge is Cloudeater's shining moment and a strong final chapter in the band's narrative. As Chris Hunt explains, "At this point we have no shows booked and we aren't working on music. Our singer departed a couple of months ago but we wanted release the album but other than that, Cloudeater is on ice. The four of us are open to considering the possibility of starting back up at some point in the future but we don't have any plans except for releasing Purge."
Cloudeater's swansong is available now for name-your-own-price download at Cloudeater's Bandcamp.