Imagine it’s a beautiful early Sunday and you start your morning with smooth jazz tunes. An unknown song plays next on your Spotify smart shuffle and begins to fill your space with low hums that flow with the beat and melody. You begin to connect with the lyrics as they shine a light on a fresh wound in your heart about a long-lost love. The UK group Sault released this song titled “Masterpiece” in 2019 within their album named “5”. The group members of Sault are Cleo Sol, Inflo, Kid Sister, Jack Peñate and Chronixx.
The lead singer, Cleo Sol, begins the song with a sweet humming tune that is backed with a bass played by Inflo. Cleo starts the song with “Time don’t make it better / I just keep on falling for you,” to begin the short story of this long-lost love. With Kid Sister and Chronixx adding in their vocals as the secondary vocalist the song begins to sound similar to an echo chamber with multiple layers. Sault creates a story on “Masterpiece” about longing for a love that has never fulfilled you. It details how the character in this story wants this love so desperately that even as time passes with the countless amount of tears shed they still think about this person daily.
With the instrumental taking up most of the song space only a few lyrics are being exchanged and the rest of the lyrics remain consistent. Some days they desire and long for the person, while other days they feel it is time for them to finally move forward. Especially in comparison to the first verse, the last verse states “But tears don’t make it better / I can’t keep on fallin’ for you.”As the song closes the line “All I think about is you” is consistently repeated by all the vocalists. The type of sound engineering included in this last bit was similar to the sound of eighties smooth jazz, with a solemn tone and an added sense of desperation, due to the lyrics that coexist with the tune. Those who enjoy alternative jazz with an ounce of gospel will truly enjoy Sault’s “5” album.
Even though Sault has three-plus million followers on Spotify, most in the United States haven’t heard about the group. Their lack of social media presence, besides Cleo Sol, is possibly the reason why. The band still chooses to remain mysterious today because their first live performance was at the end of last year even though they’ve been a band since 2019. With the song “Masterpiece” listeners can discover each role of the band members, especially if this is your first listen to a song by Sault. Each member adds something special to the song which eventually creates this amazing track.
