Saturday Moon. Chantal Acda

A Dutch singer, living with her Belgian partner in Belgium, releasing her albums on a German record label, the bio of which was written by an American working out of Slovenia. Don't tell me that European integration doesn't work.

Saturday Moon is Chantal Acda's new album and it is an album that deserves attention. The single that was released beforehand, already announced that the singer was stretching her work a bit further. 'Disappear' is a seven minute piece of musical art raising the bar for the whole album tremendously. So how does the album as a whole fare?

Let me start by pointing out that Saturday Moon in my opinion has two faces. One is the experimental music that was shown with 'Disappear' already. The other face is a form of modern folk. Melodically I can hear Chantal Acda reaching out over time and space to Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny, musically she fully goes her own way, with stripping away all that makes British folk so recognisable. No exuberance, no "traditional" instruments, no stacked instruments, nothing.

Take 'Conflict Of Minds', the second song on the album. The beautiful vocal melody is accompanied by an acoustic guitar setting the pace of the song. The defining instrument is the acoustic bass guitar that meanders through the whole song. Atmospherics and synths colour in the background of 'Conflict Of Minds'. It all results in a hybrid song spanning the time that has passed between 1969 and 2021, but most of all shows inner beauty.

The opening and title song is more along the first category but also a strategically placed song, as it bridges what came before and what is to come. 'Saturday Moon' holds something mysterious in the way Acda sings (with herself), around her the guitars weave patterns around her voice, making the song twirl in a modest but oh so pleasant way. It may become boring for those reading all my posts, but once again I hear the influence of late Norwegian singer St. Thomas in the choir singing in this song. In the subdued way all sing together this mood comes forward that excludes joy in general but certainly shows the joy of singing together. 'Saturday Moon' is an ideal introduction to an album that is about to present the listeners with a few surprises.

I already reviewed the single extensively a few weeks ago, but again I want to stress how good this song is. So much is going on vocally and musically. My ears can hardly believe what is happening. Once again time and space are combined to bring the best of several musical eras together. Slowly but surely the song gets more body. The drums are relaxed, yet firm, playful, as if all is allowed. An electric guitar solo splits the song in two. The coda is fully psychedelic and ever weirder. The centre piece of this album.

Promo photo: Jurgen Augusteyns

Reading the bio, written by Chris Eckman, her band mate in Distance, Light & Sky, Chantal Acda decided to let all conventions go and work on this album all alone, until she started to feel lonely and brought in artists that she loved to work with, including her partner, drummer Eric Thielemans. This does explain the two faces of Saturday Moon. The bare songs are the singer on her own with perhaps a few embellishments from the friends. The band songs are the ones that got away from the original concept. Both with magnificent result. At that moment a beautiful song like 'Wolfmother' still has to come. Not a single song will let you escape the mood nor let you down. The level of musicianship and imagination remains constant, I assure you.

Chantal Acda decided to let all conventions behind and created her own universe along the way. This is her album and one she can be incredibly proud of. The mix of music and the musicality on Saturday Moon is incredible. An album that is a joy to listen to, allowing its listeners to discover all the different layers the music contains and above all the different voices of Chantal Acda. There are days that I have to do with a whole lot less. Mission accomplished, I conclude.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Saturday Moon here:

https://chantalacda.bandcamp.com/album/saturday-moon

or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g