Album Review: C.Ross, Future Site of C.Ross
The seven-song Future Site of C.Ross, distinguished by its use of keys and lush, languid psychedelic melody that seems to come so naturally from its maker, is the second solo full-length from Chad Ross under the C.Ross moniker. Offered through Echodelick Records, Future Site of C.Ross — which becomes an evocative question when one factors in the Ken Reaume cover art as a potential answer to just where it is we’re talking about — follows behind 2022’s Skull Creator (review here), though solo releases aren’t a new idea for Ross, as he’s previously done two records under the banner of Nordic Nomadic between his time with Quest for Fire and Comet Control. But, as the Ontario-based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist — he also did some self-recording, while we’re dropping credits — returned to Chicago to work with producer Josh Wells (who also contributes keys, drums and other percussion), it doesn’t seem wrong to think of Future Site of C.Ross specifically in the context of its predecessor, and in that, it represents an intriguing progression of craft.
Sounds thrilling, right? Ooh, nothing says ‘this is gonna be a high-seller’ more than evident songwriter growth manifest across arrangement balances in a well-structured flow of tracks. Okay, fine. It’s not action-packed, punch-you-in-the-face-with-riffs-and-call-you-bro-after. Nor is it trying to be. C.Ross takes the mellowfuzz folkishness of Quest for Fire and the quieter moments of ethereal reach in Comet Control and brings them into a central position. And while one might hear “Faster Than the Light” with its full serving of acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums and layered vocals and think that maybe Ross a little bit can’t help but work into a ‘band mode,’ I’ll offer contrast through “LU,” immediately preceding, which is arguably the least terrestrial of all the cuts on the 37-minute LP, with a forward current of mellotron and the only sans-drums arrangement (though I’m pretty sure I heard a percussive chime in there) of the bunch. That Wells and Ross function so much as a duo here feels like it’s representing a side of Ross‘ approach that’s more centered around collaboration, about writing for and being in a band, and all the more honest for enjoying it as much as they clearly do.
The harmonica on opener “Love Until You’re Free” feels like a precursor to the sweet hum of the pedal steel in “Hash Cash Ash (No One Rides for Free),” the latter provided by Aaron Goldstein alongside guest vocals in the later wash from Eiyn Sof, but if it’s a landscape it’s a wistful one, and maybe that’s true of Canadiana generally, I don’t know, but it’s a part of Ross‘ craft, to acknowledge a time before country music was quite so outwardly toxic. Both “Hash Cash Ash (No One Rides for Free)” and “Plant Your Eyes” just before it find their way into a wash, but it’s a question of how they get there. “Plant Your Eyes” has more of a direct volume trade and relies on its midsection fuzzy surge and ambient keyboard melody behind the forward light-shuffle of the chorus. It moves, where “Hash Cash Ash (No One Rides for Free)” answers back with texture. It is more languid, more tripped out, and joyous in a more serene way as it gives over to the vocal/instrumental wash that finishes. Different songs taking on or exploring different ideas; each becomes a kind of backdrop to its own exploration, but they’re not incomplete as presented to the listener. That is, Ross and Wells aren’t half-writing songs, even if it sounds so calm and laid back at times.
A convenient but by no means exclusive example of this is the centerpiece, “Rider/Destroyer,” which doubles as the longest track at 6:53. It begins with a developing figure on acoustic guitar before Ross‘ echoing vocals, Floydian, but, you know, not, enter overtop. The verse beginning there continues to grow as the keys enter with string sounds and synth in counterpoint. I don’t know how many layers are at work as they pass the three-minute mark, but the flow ebbs and the keys step back for the vocals and guitar while staying in the background, offering hints of where the song is going to go in counterpoint to Ross‘ melody speaking to the song’s title-character. A cymbal wash about four and a half minutes in begins the slow march complemented by a low keyboard rumble setting a space soon filled by the guitar solo. The string drone is the last thing to go, with some acoustic guitar, and that makes the transition to “LU” that much easier since the guitar/keys hypnotic blend that finished “Rider/Destroyer” is taken further in “LU” before the punctuating snare of “Faster Than the Light” snaps the listener back to some notion of reality. I guess the shape of that depends on your reality.
“Faster Than the Light” is a rocker, and it needs no excuse for being one. Like “Plant Your Eyes,” it’s closer to some of what Ross has offered in Comet Control or Quest for Fire, but that doesn’t make it out of place on Future Site of C.Ross since, of course, it’s all presented as part of the broader context of Ross as a songwriter. Further, “Faster Than the Light” not only regrounds after “Rider/Destroyer” and “LU,” playing an essential role in the overarching momentum of the album, but it gives over to the all-in, keyboardy weirdness of “Unnatural Light” at the finish. With toms and synth noises far back behind an echoing vocal and some stark guitar, it becomes more cinematic with the entry of a low-frequency drone beneath the reverb-floating guitar. There’s some machine noise there — you’re not crazy — that loops through and becomes part of the world, but the point is clearly the world itself.
And that, rather than the expressive priority of a track like “Hash Cash Ash (No One Rides for Free)” or even “LU,” is one more departure Future Site of C.Ross is willing to make. I’m curious what the discussion of ‘future’ in the album’s title means, if it’s a play on escapism in relation to the cover, something morbid, or more about the music itself, like Ross acknowledging C.Ross as the site where the artistic progression that’s taken him from band to band over the last 15-plus years has found a new outlet. From a listener standpoint, as a fan, I count that as a ‘should be so lucky’ scenario, since it means more material to come, but whatever is or isn’t realized by C.Ross over this project’s time, however long that might be, Future Site of C.Ross speaks to an evolution unto itself as well as the thread of which it’s now part.
C.Ross, Future Site of C.Ross (2025)
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