Shrimp Boat's final album is also their best -- a brilliantly concise
and colorful distillation of the group's myriad influences, Cavale is
somehow both unassumingly charming and rigorously complex, a record which
by all rights should buckle under the weight of its lofty aspirations
but instead seems almost to float in mid-air. While the rootsy rhythms
and textures of the previous Duende are still intact, they've also given
way to an even greater palette of sonic accents ranging from jazz to Afro-Caribbean
to blue-eyed soul, often all in the mix at the same time -- from the skittering
opener "Pumpkin Lover" to the shimmering pop of "What Do
You Think of Love" to the jangling funk of "Free Love Overdrive,"
no two songs sound even remotely alike, but the album easily hangs together
on the strength of the group's complete command of mood and atmosphere.
A fittingly great farewell.
(by Jason Ankeny, All
Music Guide)
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