CLOTH - SECRET MEASURE - ROCK ACTION

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Cloth’s debut album was its fabric. The musical project of Rachael and Paul Swinton, their 2019 self-titled LP was the culmination of the pair’s musical journey, a multitude of home-recorded phone notes shaped into exquisite guitar-pop songs that were celebrated both in Scotland and further afield. It was also a process that was deliberately safe and insular, the twin-sibling pair having spent years working creatively together, alone, honing a musical language that grew into something both fascinating and unique.

Having explored this way of working to its full potential, both on that debut album and the four-song Low Sun EP - the band’s first release via their new home of Rock Action Records (Mogwai, Arab Strap, The Twilight Sad) - Rachael and Paul turned their tried-and-trusted approach on its head. First they stepped out of the bedroom, building their own studio where new ideas would have the time and space to flourish in their own right, and then by opening themselves to outside influence for the first time, working with producer Ali Chant (Yard Act, Katy J Pearson, Squirrel Flower) for their new LP, released in early 2023.

The result is Secret Measure, an adventurous next step, consisting of ten brand-new recordings that make for a markedly enthralling leap forward. Sketched out in their Glasgow studio in the early months of 2022, Cloth then stepped out of their comfort zone, travelling to Chant’s Bristol studio to complete the album. “We've never worked with someone in a traditional producer role before, and we wanted to try something totally different from what we've done in the past,” Paul explains of the process. “It was about being more open to the idea of risk-taking compared to our previous work that has been more careful and meticulous”

Forging a sound that is unmistakably tied to Rachael and Paul’s intimate roots, Secret Measure comes alive through the process of collaboration, with Cloth sounding bigger than ever before. New instruments are experimented with, pulled from the walls of Chant’s studio in bursts of inspiration and they add colourful layers to the songs, the pair’s language evolving into something even more detailed and expressive. The arrangements, too, are elevated by additional musicians, Cloth leaning into musical friends of Ali’s, with Bristol songwriter and instrumentalist Jemima Coulter adding trumpet to the recordings, and drummer Matt Brown fleshing out percussive ideas that Paul and Rachael had previously workshopped in London with producer/engineer/multi-instrumentalist Fabian Prynn.

Cloth’s pursuit of new landscapes lies at the beating heart of Secret Measure. Textures are layered and woven upon each other. Rachael’s warm vocals are met by sparkling guitar lines, washes of analogue synths, and intricate drum patterns that quietly but resolutely, deliberately, redefine the band’s sound.

“I think one of the most profound moments from the whole experience was when we wrote a fully-fledged track in a day, something which is totally new to us,” Paul says of the song ‘Ambulance’ which was written in the downtime between sessions. “We felt liberated by the prospect of writing a song whilst we were in Bristol with the intention of leaning into Ali’s production and Matt's drumming. Where before we would have meticulously planned out an arrangement, we leant into the skills of our collaborators which allowed the song to develop quickly in a really exciting way.”

This notion of liberation is a key aspect of Secret Measure. For the first time, Cloth embellishes their songs with swathes of analogue synthesisers that make the arrangements and the dynamics both bigger and more dramatic than the band have ever sounded. Lead single ‘Pigeon’ illuminates this beautifully, shaped by an upbeat instrumental that drifts between something sad and hopeful across its spellbinding four minutes. “I see it as a bold poppy single, and I’m not sure there’s anything else like it on the album,” Rachael says of the track. “I think it’s the most unlike any of our previous work so really feels like it's introducing a shift in our sound.”

Elsewhere, ‘Never Know’ offers a playful and moody groove, Rachael’s icy delivery warmed by a lush and elegant backdrop of instrumentation that carries the song through five gorgeous minutes, while the aforementioned ‘Ambulance’ showcases the album’s subtler side, Cloth conjuring an anxious temper that feels wholly compelling, the mood enhanced by the use of an instrument called a Santoor which adds a new melodic and percussive element to their sound while highlighting the album’s experimental traits.

Where previous work has seen the pair collaborate on the lyrical side of their work, the lyrics for Secret Measure were written solely by Paul, a process which has led to a cohesive vein running throughout the record. Where their debut LP dealt with disparate and often ambiguous lyrical themes, Secret Measure is immediately more forthright. Centred around a desire for personal assurances, the album’s narrative reflects on Paul’s realisation that even as bleak as things get you can always find a flash of hope to hold on to if you look hard enough. Indicative of the musical bond that sits at the core of Cloth, Rachael trusted in the themes that Paul was exploring throughout the album, finding ways to impart her own experiences on the songs throughout the process.

While Secret Measure is still distinctly a Cloth record, it’s undoubtedly new territory for the duo. Intensely inspired by the freedom and inspiration they found in those they worked with, it sees the band fully explore their boundaries, always eager to embrace the new. “For me, it was about boldness,” Paul affirms. “Things are quite carefully put together and understated in our music, but being able to inject that with something wild and unpredictable felt really attractive and creatively adventurous. It has lit a spark of excitement for the future and just how far we can take Cloth - in directions we never would have conceived of without outside influence.”

Both greater in scope and more wide-ranging in its musical fabric, Secret Measure always finds time to explore the space between what came before and where they find themselves now; the shady, shadowed corners where these recordings truly come alive. Both rich and expressive, it’s the sound of a band reshaping themselves with gutsy abandon - not only unafraid of exploring new worlds but actively embracing what lies ahead.

- Tom Johnson