Silver Shadow Slowly Rolling Camera

• 1Rebirth04:45
• 2Desert Sun03:37
• 3Silver Shadow04:22
• 4When The Sun Comes Out02:53
• 5Evergreen03:31
• 6Beam04:02
• 7Mirror Image02:44
• 8Spotless Mind05:22
• Total Runtime31:16

Info for Silver Shadow

Since bursting onto the scene in 2013, Cardiff's Slowly Rolling Camera has crafted a distinctive niche in the European jazz tapestry, effortlessly weaving together soul-stirring rhythms, magnetic melodies, and a rich palette of emotional hues. Known for alchemical compounds of jazz finesse, cinematic gravitas, and electronic flair, Slowly Rolling Camera fashions sound, perpetually pushing the boundaries of musical creativity.

"This album reflects our fascination with the cinematic approach, not just in sound, but in how we construct our music".

SRC’s latest album, 'Silver Shadow,' delves even deeper into that cinematic realm. Inspired by the visual and musical interplay in film montages, 'Silver Shadow' centers around a fictional protagonist, encapsulated both in the album’s narrative arc and its striking artwork. The tracks, concise and emotionally consistent, mark a departure from earlier long-form composition, aiming instead for more immediate impact.

The core trio of Dave Stapleton (keys), Deri Roberts (sound design & production), and Elliot Bennett (drums) drive the band's collective ethos, further ornamented by a vibrant ensemble of collaborators including Jasper Høiby on bass, Josh Arcoleo on sax, Stuart McCallum on guitar, and Verneri Pohjola on trumpet. The band’s genre-defying approach and profound emotional depth has earned comparison with iconic groups The Cinematic Orchestra and GoGo Penguin and captured the hearts of many thousands of fans worldwide.

Slowly Rolling Camera has garnered recognition in the media for “the way jazz and trip-hop merge into their music”, (Deutschland Radio), its “orchestral sweeps, Bristol-style trip-hop, and ethereal drum and bass rhythms” (Crack Magazine) and as "A wildly talented group of young musicians..." (Jamie Cullum).

Celebrating a decade of innovation in 2024, Slowly Rolling Camera continues to evolve. The eponymous inaugural album in 2014 championed a raw, organic sound with double bass, drums, and Fender Rhodes at its core, a theme that developed and expanded through subsequent works, 2018’s 'Juniper' and 2021’s 'Where The Streets Lead', and now returns with renewed focus, extra edge and compressed energy for 2024’s 'Silver Shadow'.

"The Cinematic Orchestra's influence since the early 2000s has been profound, inspiring our signature blend of acoustic and electronic elements, crafted to be upfront, edgy, and raw."

Marking their sixth studio release, 'Silver Shadow' not only confirms Slowly Rolling Camera's innovative spirit but also celebrates its impressive streaming success, with over 20 million streams to date. This album is a reaffirmation of the group’s enduring sound and evolving legacy in the contemporary music landscape.

Dave Stapleton, keyboards
Deri Roberts, sound design & production
Elliot Bennett, drums
Jasper Høiby, bass
Josh Arcoleo, saxophone
Stuart McCallum, guitar
Verneri Pohjola, trumpet

Recorded by Elliot Bennett, Dave Stapleton and Deri Roberts
Mixed by Deri Roberts
Mastered by Hafod Mastering
Produced by Slowly Rolling Camera
Executive producer Dave Stapleton

Slowly Rolling Camera
a new project that teams pianist-composer Dave Stapleton, producer Deri Roberts, vocalist-lyricist Dionne Bennett and drummer Elliot Bennett, is proof positive that some of the most interesting work often arises from a meeting of many minds. The result is music that has distinct echoes of the ‘invisible soundtracks’ of UK progressives Cinematic Orchestra and Portishead as well as the polychrome textures of maverick Scandinavian artists like Sigor Ros and Oddarrang.

The intricate deployment of glowing keyboard colours and shifting rhythmic patterns imbues tracks such as Temptation and Eight Days In with the kind of stark atmospheres that often define the best scores for both big and small screen. Stapleton’s keyboards and Elliot Bennett’s drums create a wide range of sharp, often crunching timbres that are augmented by Roberts’ artful electronic washes, but it is the presence of guest players, double bassist Jasper Hoiby, guitarist Chris Montague and saxophonist Mark Lockheart that significantly enriches the sound palette. These greatly respected figures in British jazz contribute a heavy, bulky low end, eerie, crackling chords and crystalline solos that make for much more than a cut ‘n’ paste studio session. Their attention to detail is great.

Furthermore, the orchestral scope of the project is epitomized by the lush, plaintive string charts that embellish tracks such as Coin. There is also Dionne Bennett’s measured, highly soulful vocal performance on 21 Nov and Rain That Falls, two gorgeously wistful songs that skillfully weave together understated but nonetheless resonant chord sequences and soaring crescendos.

Slowly Rolling Camera is not a name without meaning. The whole aesthetic of the music vividly suggests a series of frames or images that unfold at a leisurely pace, thus settling strongly into the sub-conscious to reveal layer upon layer of detail. The combination of lean but incisive production and tightly focused live playing has yielded music that has the dot-matrix finesse of the digital age without being bloodless or clinical. Slowly Rolling Camera are purveyors of mysterious audio vignettes that are moulded by a structural sophistication that is plugged straight into the vibrant emotional current of pop culture.

This album contains no booklet.