Sault is a French town, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Vaucluse department, near the town of Carpentras, where a few years ago she was elected deputy Marion Maréchal, Le Pen's granddaughter. It is the capital of the canton of its name. It is integrated into the communauté de communes du pays de Sault. This is what comes out on Google when you type "Sault". The truth is that this point in the south of France, with just 1,300 inhabitants, seems like a nice place, with its old buildings and its lavender fields. But if you want to know when you enter Google and type in this word, find out who they are, where they are from or where they are going to perform next year. Sault, the most brilliant unknown band of the moment, is going to have trouble finding an answer. to these doubts. There have always been artists who have hidden their identity, but none have done it with the same dedication and opacity and, above all, no one has done it in the 21st century, when if there is something left over it is information. And music.
On June 19, the combo announced on its Bandcamp page that it was going to launch that same day - the one that commemorates the abolition of slavery in the United States and the same one that Beyoncé chose to publish the vindictive single Black Parade - its third feature in just 13 months, titled Untitled (Black Is). “We present our first untitled album at a time when we, as black or black people, are fighting for our lives. DEP George Floyd and all those who have suffered from police brutality and systemic racism. The change is happening… We are focused ”, read the message released by this mysterious group.
Interest in knowing who they are is inevitable after hearing what they do. His is a fascinating mix of funk, disco , postpunk, hip-hop , krautrock , gospel and soul. Sometimes, it seems that the Germans Can have gotten together with the New Yorkers ESG and from what the translator has not grasped, this wonder has come out. Everything in Sault is minimal, cheap and concise. And everything refers to something, but you never finish knowing exactly what. Its resources are infinite and its way of approaching each theme is unique, always creating surprising and apparently developed variations with little effort. It is as if that chewing gum still had flavor after biting it for 30 years. It is also incredible that in 13 months they have even managed to evolve, something that in other artists can take decades and almost always ends in imperceptible variations of the same concept or in revolutions as noisy as out of focus.
In May 2019 they released 5 . That album contains its most post-punk version. In September of that year they published 7. That album contains its most pop version. Now Untitled (Black Is) appears and contains its more gospel version, more based on textures than on songs. More than an album it is a state of mind. It has been just now, with the release of this third feature, that some media have begun to claim to know the origin of the members of the formation. Until today, the only sure thing seemed that it was a trio. In its vinyl editions, the only information found is that the albums have been produced by Inflo, alias under which British producer Dean Josiah Cover operates, responsible (along with the famous Danger Mouse) for the last two albums by Michael Kiwanuka , who collaborates in this third feature by Sault giving voice to the Africanist 'Bow'. Inflo is also a contributor to London rapper Little Simz, one of today's hip-hop phenomena and perhaps the first artist to warn the world of Sault's existence.
Little by little, the unknowns surrounding what can already be considered one of the great revelations of recent months are isolated. The band's vocalists are increasingly suspected to be soul singer Cleo Sol, who has also collaborated with Little Simz and established artists such as Jungle, and Kid Sister (Melissa Young), a rapper based in Chicago. and that last year he signed for Forever Living Originals, the London label that surrounds all the names that at one time or another have been associated with Sault, the best unknown band on the planet. Unknown in the strictest sense, and not only because on June 19 the world stood up to celebrate that Beyoncé had responded to the challenge on the streets with a song and ignored that Sault had released an album that appealed to the same day. same but from a perspective not susceptible of becoming a shirt. The only downside is that, as long as they insist on maintaining anonymity, they are going to deprive us of seeing them live. At the moment, the music and - a little too - the mystique more than make up for it.
Untitled (Black Is), 5 and 7 . Sault. Forever Living Originals, 2020.