Cautious Clay – Deadpan Love

Label: The Orchard
Released: 25th June 2021

Singer-songwriter Cautious Clay gives us a bird-eyes view of the calamities of life in debut ‘Deadpan Love’; an album as perfect for summer weather as it is for broodier storms.

Kicking off with the opening track ‘High Risk Travel’, Cautious Clay forces us to pay attention – at only just under two minutes, this is a track which is effortlessly cool, sonically perfect for dancing while the lyricism is sharply resonant for anyone with relationship anxiety. The Brooklyn-based artist embraces minimalism on this album, without being stagnant, showcases the smooth sound he’s worked with to curate in other artists such as John Legend and Taylor Swift. 

On the surface, ‘Deadpan Love’ seems slightly cynical, but there’s a heart to the album that subtly reveals itself. Single ‘Roots’ is especially heartfelt, lamenting the loss of a relationship dying from its own toxicity, with an addictive metallic snare and infectious vocals. Cautious Clay breaks up the album with an arrangement around his alliterative name, showing that this is a creative work enthused with humour, portraying the singer-songwriter’s authentic connection to fame and his adoration of wordplay, as well as a love for a groovy vibe that appears in most of the tracks. 

Cautious Clay gives us timeless music in this debut release, soul-pop-esque music which almost transcends its genre in its eleven tracks that are easy to listen to and easier to love; ‘Dying in the Subtlety’ is the perfect example of this, an earworm that’s creative, smooth and a dream to press repeat on. If Cautious Clay hadn’t already marked himself as one to watch, this album would have cemented that title in a heartbeat.