As the first few bars of the opening track,“The Sea”, float through the airwaves. It feels as if you’re travelling down, underwater, toward a sunken kingdom beneath the waves.
Baby Cool is the side project of Grace Cuell, the co-front woman of alternative Queensland outfit Nice Biscuit. Earthling On The Road To Self Love is the debut album from Baby Cool, and to say it’s made an impression on my ears would be a significant understatement. With Baby Cool we see Grace taking sole control of the creative direction and placing her angelic vocals at the front and centre of the project.
On “Altar”, soft, sultry vocals fill the headphones. All whilst heavenly harps are plucked away in a distant seascape. As the album washes over you, you can feel the salt and sea-spray gluing your eyelids together. Factor 50 sunscreen wafting into your nostrils and sand crunching between your toes, it’s summer in nine tracks.
At points on Earthling On The Road, Cuell’s voice brandishes a lush anguish filled with melancholic malaise. However, this never bogs the album down due to the beautiful counterpoint provided by the light and bright instrumentals. The hazy dream pop, crackles with sunshine and this is especially true of the final track, “Daydream”.
With evident country pop influences such as Mazzy star, and shoegaze elements reminiscent of early The Brian Jonestown Massacre, shining through strongly at the end of the record. Earthling On The Road To Self Love exudes a mood and sound which is truly timeless. Whilst on the other hand feeling so intrinsically linked to place.
The addition of country motifs from the lead guitar at several points throughout the record, provides a sense of whimsy and keeps the mood buoyant. “Poison” is a shining example of this whimsical instrumentation and Cuell’s more emotional lyrics, balancing each other out beautifully.
The final tracks suggest a further potential for a more shoe gaze driven direction in the future, and hints at the likelihood of high energy live performances. I’m certainly keeping my eye out for any potential tour dates over here in the west, but as of yet, Baby Cool is staying firmly on the east coast.
The often indistinguishable drift from one track into another, only reinforces the feeling of this album as a singular entity. The record flows forward like a set of waves lapping at the shore. If removed from the context of the album, a large number of these tracks are without the ear-worm inducing hooks that would qualify them to be considered traditional singles. Though, I will argue that it is clear that the artist’s intention was to create an album with a thematic consistency and an overriding narrative, rather than a collection of singles. And to that, I say cool, baby.
Earthling On The Road To Self Love is a sparkling debut outing. Leaving me giddy for more coastal dreams from Baby Cool in the future. In the meantime you’ll find me frolicking on beaches both near and far, in my brand new mermaids tail.
