Just Listen: Cassia – Small Spaces
Cassia – Small Spaces
Words: Daniel Burton
Cassia started making music in an indie bar in Barbados ……. sorry that isn’t true, but this is exactly what they make you think the more and more you listen to them.
As soon as the first riff hits your ears, it sends you straight to paradise. If you’re listening to them in your living room or in a car driving through dreary England, it’ll send your mind crazy because you feel like you should be sat on a palm tree-ridden beach sipping cocktails.
In their latest release, ‘Small Spaces’, there are a number of exotic drum sounds that are layered underneath a bouncy bright guitar sound, which fit perfectly with singer, Rob’s voice. Whilst they name some of their influences as Ska and Afrobeat, in my opinion the tropical edge to every song provides more of a Caribbean vibe as opposed to West African, but music is all about individual interpretation, and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because Cassia make great music, there no two ways about it.
I cannot explain what Cassia do to me at times, my body seems to absorb the joyful melody from their music and puts me into an instant state of happiness that I cannot escape. From the original release of ‘100 Times Over’ in 2016, and even more in the 2018 version, to the more recent ‘Get Up Tight’, there is a feel-good factor in every second that gives you jaunty step to your day.
Having recently been named as one of Radio X’s Great X-Pectations and ‘100 Time Over’ named as one of BBC Introducing’s best tracks of the decade, Cassia are quickly gaining huge reputation around Europe and are sure to be one of the best up and coming bands on the scene at the moment.
LIVE
13 March – SxSW, Austin
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14 April – The Tube, Dusseldorf
15 April – Molotow, Hamburg
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13 July – Audley End House: GCE Heritage Live, Essex (w/ The Hives, The Fratellis)
27 July – Kendal Calling
16 August – Obstwiesenfestival, Dornstadt
