LISTEN: Cosmo Sheldrake - 'Egg and Soldiers'

Cosmo Sheldrake remains one of the most intriguing, unusual and exciting artists I had the pleasure of discovering and seeing live in 2017. Challenged only by Banfi and Seramic opening up for Bear's Den earlier in the year, Cosmo performed one of my favourite support slots of the year at The Roundhouse on the Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit tour. His ability to stand alone on the stage and fill such a large space with his quirky tunes and completely endearing personality really impressed me, particularly the way that he preluded each track by introducing the audience to the samples that he was about to use - his passion for the music and for seeking out interesting sounds was incredibly apparent (which you can see for yourself in this live reworking of a track from 2013.) From that show and a lot of listening to his back catalogue since, favourite tunes for me include Solar, a track combining a sample of the sun's rays (!) with lyrics taken from a William Blake poem, and the entirety of the Pelicans We EP which I hastily bought from the merch stand after the show.

I was pretty delighted to hear recently that Cosmo had confirmed details of his debut album The Much Much How How and I, which is set for release through the wonderful Transgressive Records on 6th April! The album has been shaped by artists ranging from The Beatles and The Kinks to Moondog and Stravinsky, Sheldrake's anthropological study at University and his longstanding interest in ethnomusicology. The record was produced by Cosmo and Matthew Herbert, and was recorded at Soup Studios as well as in Cosmo's basement - check out the various pre-order options (including limited edition vinyl) here.

Following recent singles Come Along and Mind of Rocks, Cosmo has recently released the latest single from the upcoming record, Egg and Soldiers. It is a song "about hubris and the potential pitfalls of short-sightedness" which you can check out below - be sure to listen out for sounds including "an escalator in St Pancras station, Cosmo's late cat Cocoa purring, a stream in Snowdonia, a brass band, lots of woodwind and a string quartet." 

If you like what you're hearing and would like to see Cosmo's impressive live performance for yourself then be sure to check out his upcoming UK and Europe tour, including a date at London's Village Underground on 5th April - all the dates and ticket information are here and come with a very big recommendation from myself!

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