ALBUM REVIEW: C.W. Franz – The Cubensis Session

On his 2022 project “Solo”, C.W. Franz performed a gentle, near 1 ½-minute dedication to his significant other entitled “When I Look at My Woman”. This was the penultimate track of what was conceptually an off-the-cuff, one-man show where the Chicago songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/ producer delivered a series of rough, demo-like songs that may or may not eventually become fully fleshed-out tracks. This year, that song was introduced in the third act of C.W.’s recently-released album “VIII: Adrift and Hoping” in a longer, finalized version.

Interestingly, “When I Look at My Woman” is once again inserted into C.W.’s discography, this time on “The Cubensis Session”, his latest free-form jam session since the highly entertaining “The Orange Diamond Sessions: Two Waves (06/04/2022)” record featuring Chicago guitarist/vocalist *Mitch*. As part of the 21 ½ minute suite which kicks off the album, dwarfing the three subsequent songs by a ridiculously wide margin, it’s the only C.W.-composed ‘hit’ song on the album, and one of four familiar songs that appear on it. The first two show up on the opening track itself (Van Morrison’s “Slim Slow Slider” and the African-American folk song “Shortening Bread”) while the other one closes the album (the gospel song “And We Bid You Goodnight”, widely known for its Grateful Dead cover).

Like the title “Solo”, “The Cubensis Session” gives you a clear, concise idea of what to expect, though I’ll confess I had to do a bit of Google-based clarification before diving into this record. As stated in its Bandcamp-available liner notes, it was recorded while C.W. was under the influence of the Cubensis species of magic mushroom. Prior to this album, the only musical project created entirely through psilocybin use that I ever listened to was Madlib’s “The Unseen” (highly recommended by yours truly for annual 4/20 music consumption), a masterwork of hazy, psychedelic, jazz-sampling soundscapes and witty, vocally high-pitched lyricism from the L.A. producer/rapper. And similar to “Solo”, this record feels like a fever dream of ideas and concepts that may serve as lyrical and thematic templates for future songs from C.W.

But the key to properly understanding “The Cubensis Session” lies in its second and most important influence: the ‘informal feel of John Fahey’s, Sandy Bull’s and Robbie Basho’s appearances on public television’. And like the rare TV performances (some of which are available on YouTube), you can picture C.W. – “solo” once again – emulating that free-associative vibe throughout the entirety of this album.

Like those musicians, C.W. relies more on his instruments to help convey a particular mood than his own vocals. On the opening track “Lilies / When I Look at My Woman / Slim Slow Slider / African Marigold Raga / Shortening Bread / Bone-Dry Allegheny Jam / Shortening Bread (Reprise)” which, given its runtime, feels like its own complete jam session, C.W. sings in three sections: “When I Look at My Woman”, “Slim Slow Slider” and “Shortening Bread” (not the reprise, mind you, which is a brief instrumental piece). And on the closing track “And We Bid You Goodnight”, following a brief sustained note on his Casio SA-76 keyboard, C.W. delivers a whispery acapella take on the song’s chorus. Though there are occasional moments on the record where he talks to the ‘audience’ whilst fine-tuning his instruments, “The Cubensis Session” is mainly an instrumental affair.

C.W.’s smooth strumming of his Texas Oil Can-o-Caster on “Lilies” effectively establishes the opening track’s overall vibe of subdued unpredictability where C.W. can hit you with a personal song like “When I Look at My Woman” in one minute and then hit you with the all-too-familiar refrain of “Shortening Bread” (even if, like me, you probably forgot the name of that song) in the next. And yet in this strange, stream-of-conscious, concurrent flow of musical ideas and concepts, it actually works!

On the instrumental “Indigo Wildfire”, C.W. turns to his trusty Appalachian dulcimer (he even credits the ‘supplier’ of that instrument at the beginning of the song) to deliver a raw, stripped-down performance which, given its title, tone and choice of instrument, would’ve fit perfectly in the playlists of his previous records “American Byways” and “American Darkness”. The same goes for the following track “A Cleansing”, which feels sonically like the much-needed rainfall to help cool the earth after the “Indigo Wildfire”, where the haunting combination of synth lead and rawhide rattle (the latter of which I erroneously assumed was a CAPSULE BOTTLE during my first listen) would sound right at home in the playlist of an electronic-based album like “C.W. Franz IV”.

Despite its quiet demeanor, the abovementioned closing track is arguably the most spontaneous moment on this record. On surface level, “And We Bid You Goodnight” feels like an on-the-spot closing song which came to C.W.’s mind in terms of concluding his ‘TV performance’. But I couldn’t help but see it as this subconscious reference to his self-titled album “C.W. Franz VII”, which opened with a brief acapella rendition of Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town”, a song that laid the groundwork for that album’s exploration of resurfaced regrets amidst a new relationship.

As far as his “Sessions” albums go, “The Cubensis Session” is easily C.W’s most low-key and experimental, whether it’s the mentally-stimulated approach to his instrumental compositions or the ‘live studio audience’ aesthetic to his overall presentation. But I also view this album as a bridge towards future projects where the ideas and themes presented here can be expounded on more polished and fine-tuned tracks. Die-hard C.W. Franz fans should definitely seek this one out, and as for the uninitiated, I highly recommend checking out his earlier work before diving into this one. And of course, I leave the choice of listening to this album under the influence up to you!

OVERALL RATING: 6 out of 10

Now available on Bandcamp