Hot Spoon, Cold Mango are a cryptic act who have just come to my attention thanks to their latest album. With a focus on storytelling in both content and presentation, it’s called Paws on Ears.
By Graeme Smith
Hot Spoon, Cold Mango have a clear love for language, as evidenced by their extended and surreal track names, pleasingly presented in near-alphabetical order on this album. It opens with A Beckoning Plea Of A Call For Bears. It’s a slow and contemplative start. Delicate piano is paired with minimal drums and the occassional heavy note cuts through the ambience. Haunting horns and electronic layers come in before that track breaks into a canter towards a big, life-affirming crescendo.
Amongst The Roots Of Trees is a gentle and dreamy moment, perfectly reflecting the nature scene of its title. A Cows Stands Guard Protecting Their Llamas is richly atmospheric, doing a lot with its minimal arrangement. Drooping Of Willow Trees Atop The Burrow Of Rabbit draws us into a moody electronic soundscape and proves to be a highlight.
First Dance Of Eight Paws simmers thoughtfully with a warming, moving melody. Flower Picking Pink Elepppppphants has a subtle bass groove contrasted with lilting keys. Fly With Me My Lover Fennec is suitably airy and romantic, slowly building to a textured arrangement that’s another highlight.
Forgotten Fables In Dusty Attics Of Abandoned Buildings is wonderfully whimsical while Fox Betrothed The Cat will melt you with its etherealness. Grazing On Mushrooms And Sweet Grass Of Morning Dew Meadows is a jazzy, blissful odyssey that unfolds over seven and a half minutes.
I Am Not Afraid Of You Penguins Anymore is a soothing moment with a quiet confidence. The Lovely Hippopotamus Sings For Her Lover Europa Von Mouse is bright with punchy percussion and hypnotic keys. Ramblings Of Regenerative Rabbits brims with a sense of nostalgia, built from piano, strings and brass with a heart-warming, looping melody.
She Said It Was A Duck provides some stirring contrast with its relatively urgent rhythm. Sketching In A Photogram Of Worlds keeps things upbeat with a bouncy arrangement that you can (slowly) dance to. Walk To Find Trees has a certain eeriness about it while it suggests space and movement. It’s another highlight.
Withdrawing Of Claws is full of a sense of hope and wonder before Zoologist Leave For The Evening closes the album with a short vignette. It’s a relaxing final moment full of longing brass and jazz textures. It’s a final highlight.
Paws on Ears is out now via Time Traveling Hitchhikers Studios. You can give it a listen below.
