Album Review: Pilgrimage To the Sea

The album art for Anthony Coulter’s latest album Pilgrimage To the Sea shows the performer saturated in stunning blues and golds, playing guitar beside the ocean. It’s a simple image, one that perfectly represents the joy of the album’s summer themes, and yet seems surprisingly unassuming for the majestic record that follows.

Listeners will be instantly lured in by the skittering rhythms opening the title track. Pilgrimage To the Sea instantly captivates with its mystifying blend of funk, jazz, reggae, pop, and all that exists between and beyond. Coulter’s lyrics are simple but highly visual, welcoming his audience to his seaside stage show. “You’re my angel, we are only beginning our pilgrimage to the sea”, he croons, over layered backing harmonies and slick melodic guitars. Following tracks The Island and Golden Hour are equally clear in their images of a beachy paradise, carried by catchy choruses made for barbecue evenings of the Kiwi summer.

Soulfood is a standout, controlled by a washed-out hook where Coulter calls us to simply “reach for the stars”. It’s dreamy, dramatic and hard not to tap your foot to. Being With You’s comparatively raw instrumentation, where the percussion ranges from rattles to thumps to rhythms held together almost exclusively by the guitars, makes it another immediate highlight. Coulter’s collaborative nature shines throughout tracks like No rest for the wicked or the sugary-sweet ukulele-led number Good Life, each awash with a big band feel that never let the listener know quite what to expect. Closing track Family of Fyah emphasises this unpredictable experimental magic, even briefly dissolving into a nearly electronic track as brass, keys and relentless bass grooves fill the room in its final moments.

As an overall album, Pilgrimage To the Sea is remarkably cohesive. Whilst upon first listen this may make the songs blend together, it also makes getting close with each individual track all the more rewarding. Summertime music is hardly a new field, but Coulter’s genre exploration and fresh, full approach to his lyrics and production make Pilgrimage To the Sea an exciting, engaging and yet beautifully familiar listen. This Tauranga artist is an utter gem, ready to soundtrack sunny days to come.