Label: Skipstone Records, 2023
Personnel - Erik Friedlander: cello; Ava Mendoza: electric guitar; Stomu Takeishi: electric bass; Diego Espinosa: percussion.
She Sees, the second studio album by American cellist Erik Friedlander’s Sentinel - originally a trio and now a quartet - clearly leans on muscular rock while moving in mysterious ways. Driven by genre-fusing ardor, the group welcomes Japanese bassist Stomu Takeishi - he collaborated with Friedlander on fantastic albums such as Topaz (1999), Quake (2003), Prowl (2006) and Ring (2016) - who joins the core trio completed by Brooklyn-based avant guitarist Ava Mendoza and Mexican percussionist Diego Espinosa.
“Baskets, Biscuits, Rain” follows a typical anthemic rock song format but suggests a propulsive swinging feel through the dynamic bass. The quartet gets lean on “Wit & Whimsy”, which sounds like classic arena-rock, and sinewy on “Heatwave”, a fusion piece with excellent command of tempo and tone, and enlivened by an inner/outer travelogue delivered by Friedlander. The cellist, who recently underwent Deep Brain Stimulation to fight Parkinson’s disease, appears here as fit as a flea.
“Tremor, Blink” is funk-rock rapture. Cello and guitar are seen partially in tandem to create a sort of contrapuntal effect, whereas “Sliding” focuses on a gutbucket jazz n’ bluesy style redolent of Tom Waits. In turn, “Summit” explores the pop genre with cello pizzicato and a reverb-drenched guitar solo with distorted contrails. Mendoza is also impressive on “Ache, Air”, championing a jangling funky rhythm contraction with punk-rock attitude.
If the engrossing “Rush. Rush Slowly” is treated with ethnic intrusions and Eastern tangents, then “Soak! Soak!” and the closer, “Moneycake: Corrupting”, are pinned with stylish riffs. The former develops with a three-time feel, while the latter gets under way in seven, changing meter signatures en route.
Adding warped sounds to its rock-steeped temperament, this new Sentinel disc falls well behind the group’s debut album (2020), but deserves some support for its bold sounds and explorative intrepidity.
Favorite Tracks:
06 - Ache, Air ► 07 - Sliding ► 10 - Moneycake: Corrupting