The Cradle - The Glare Of Success

We are very happy to present The Cradle’s return to NNA Tapes with a brand new album, ‘The Glare Of Success.’ Taking a highly exploratory approach to a follow-up album, New York City-based musician and songwriter Paco Cathcart dissects his 2018 NNA debut full-length ‘Bag Of Holding,’ creatively stripping it’s orchestral and vocal components apart and collaging them back together into the building blocks of ten new songs that reflect Cathcart's proclivity for acoustic/electric sonic contrasts, as well as his abiding interest in reggae rhythms and dub production processes. Cathcart displays his adaptability by pulling a complete musical 180 that retains the brilliant and imaginative atmosphere The Cradle has cultivated, free from the constraints of style or genre.

Where ‘Bag Of Holding’ favored a delicate, contemplative folk-based atmosphere, ‘The Glare Of Success’ amplifies the energy levels, creating a grooving, highly rhythmic experimental dance counterpart, overall propelled by vibe as opposed to the emotion and sentiment of its predecessor. These new songs continue to showcase Cathcart’s comfort and ingenuity not only in traditional songwriting, but behind the boards as well, by demonstrating his chops in the editing and mixing process. The majority of sounds on ‘The Glare Of Success’ are taken from friend and collaborator Sammy Weissberg’s acoustic instrumental arrangements (violin, viola, cello, clarinet, flute, double bass and horns), as well as the isolated vocal contributions from Palberta (Ani Ivry-Block, Lily Konigsberg, and Nina Ryser), manipulated and recontextualized by Cathcart through a unique form of musical recycling.

Some songs, such as “Day’s End Dub,” retain the pop song structure of The Cradle’s previous work, with the addition of all new vocals and lyrics placed into fresh musical settings. Other songs, such as “Dub Of Holding,” are entirely instrumental, inserting traditional reggae instrumentation such as hi-hats, melodica, kalimba, bells, percussion, and thick electric bass lines. The sound fidelity itself feels genuinely analog and organically hand-played, linking it further to the dub tradition, the influence this album wears on its sleeve. ‘The Glare Of Success’ emphasizes, in equal parts, Cathcart’s musical versatility, limitless imagination, and the tremendous depth of his influences and inspirations. Each new work from The Cradle reveals itself as another piece of a much larger story, and is a shining example of the freedom that Cathcart possesses in the creation of his art.

Recorded Fall 2017 at 107 St. James Place, BK, NY.
Samples culled mostly from the Weissberg-arranged instrumental and Palberta-vocal contributions to the Bag of Holding album by Ani, Lily, Nina, Jasper, Kana, Jake, Sammy, and Nathan.