Linden Pomeroy – The Cat Sang Out

Ramble

Acoustic guitarist Linden Pomeroy has certainly been active over the last few years, developing his approach to devotional and primitive guitar. The Cat Sang Out couches his clear, upbeat style over seven varying pieces that range from two to nine minutes and encompass blues, slide and Spanish inflections within a landscape of wide-open desert spaces.

There is an upbeat, positive approach to his playing, with the odd stray note and minor chord inflection to add unexpected elements. The languid start contains an air of intrigue, the carefully considered progressions showcasing his ability but not in a way that is too showy. There is a rolling confidence that moves around, touching on brief classical motifs before skipping on, making minor detours before returning to a familiar refrain.

There is a countrified air to “The Handmade Star” and it feels as though it is easing itself along a narrow ledge looking out over commanding vistas, its gentle tempo preparing for the headlong rush downhill, flashing through fields of flowers, slowing as the energy wanes and the beat of the sun embraces.

It all feels off the cuff, and you can imagine the fingers dancing on the frets as the strings bend on the slower “Spirit Of The South Downs”. There are elements of Ry Cooder here, but the bluesy strut pulls us in another direction preparing us for a quick jaunt through Charley Patton‘s “Spoonful”, the bluegrass inflections lending it a different twist.

Some pieces are more melancholy, with a slower tempo that enables you to revel in the deep thrum of the chords against the high cry of the single notes. The pieces move at their own pace, and you do feel an immediacy and an intimacy in the recording. The long-form “Waning Moo” has a Spanish feel in its twists and turns, the deep chords and dramatic flourishes chasing one another.

You feel a different mindset here; it is more existential with drama, repetition and a sense of impetus, as if the piece needs to be captured before forgotten. The chords ebb and flow like rippling waves and you feel that Linden likes to inhabit different moods depending on how the pieces affect him.

The album ends with “Pranayama Blues”, a mellow slippery-slide piece that begins strung out and relaxed before rushing towards a satisfactory end, a ripple of harmonics signalling that time is up and our dreamy half-hour sojourn is over. You can tell that there are influences, but Linden takes them and filters them through his own South Coast prism and these pieces would be as at home on the South Downs as down South.

-Mr Olivetti-