Tara Clerkin Trio – Somewhere Good

There’s a chance you’ve heard something like the music crafted by Tara Clerkin Trio… but we doubt it. In terms of process, and sheer sonic identity, the group (Tara Clerkin, Sunny Joe Paradisos, and Patrick Benjamin) are operating in a singular universe, a Venn diagram between jazz elasticity, dubby low-end, the plastic pop of Scritti Politti, and the post-punk of Young Marble Giants, say. 

Their first full project since 2023 release ‘The Turning Ground’, new album ‘Somewhere Good’ is precociously creative. Refusing to settle into any one place, opener ‘Lake Walk’ seems to ooze out of an alternative dimension, before settling into the psych-speckled summer ode ‘Lazy Daisy’.

‘Ups & Days’ has a sense of the uncanny to it, while ‘Silently’ has a whisper-soft aesthetic, the Pointillist techniques illuminating their theme in sound.

It’s a record in perpetual motion. Easy to fall for but difficult to grasp, ‘Somewhere Good’ only truly reveals its secrets after a dozen listens or so. ‘There Was A Nice Sunset’ has a painterly feel, while the arresting title track is a surreal ode worthy of late 60s Canterbury.

‘Slow Island’ recalibrates once more, before the dub excursions of finale ‘Movin’ On’ are left to usher us into infinity. A gorgeous and truly hypnotic listen, ‘Somewhere Good’ is a truly original, absolutely heavenly work.

8/10

Words: Robin Murray