Cloudbelly w/ Rocking Puppies

The Iron Horse (18 Center St., Northampton, MA)

Music

Cloudbelly w/ Rocking Puppies at The Iron Horse on Saturday, November 2 2024

The group is fronted by singer-songwriter Corey Laitman, a former member of the NYC antifolk scene and Signature Sounds record label, whose ethereal poeticisms are delivered in a spellbinding voice that tips its cap to Sufjan Stevens and Joni Mitchell in equal measure. Laitman is joined by guitarist and ambient sound sculptor Sam Perry (SVIP), bassist and backing vocalist (and killer-solo artist in her own right) Ciarra Fragale, and drummer, producer, and sound mangler Nate Mondschein (who often works under the moniker of Best Mann)

Cloudbelly’s music has been recognized by the Kerrville New Folk Competition, New Song at Citizen Vinyl, WBUR Tiny Desk Roundup, and Signature Sounds Record Label, and their most recent release i know i know i know was hailed by The Boston Globe as one of the best records of 2024. The band has played Green River Festival, Arcadia Folk Fest, and Meadowlark Festival, sharing the stage with Fleet Foxes, Bonny Light Horseman, Cake, Sean Rowe, Josh Ritter, and many others.

On their latest project, the new LP i know i know i know, the group (along with frequent collaborator/bassist/keyboardist/string arranger Reed Sutherland) merges their individual superpowers to create a collection of tracks that flirts with experimentalism without ever abandoning its tether to a recognizable emotional bedrock. The record features everything from hook-heavy indie rock anthems to tender folk ballads, left-of-center art-pop odes to hypnotic, haunting meditations, each one highlighting Laitman’s unique ability to transport listeners into spaces of quiet intimacy, chaotic urgency, and tender revelation – oftentimes in the same breath.