Short Reviews [The Mastelottos - 2021 - "A Romantic's Guide To King Crimson"]

Here we have an interesting album, a re-imagining of King Crimson material by the husband-and-wife duo Deborah and Pat Mastelotto. Pat has of course been one of the drummers in that band for over 20 years, while Deborah has been joining Pat on tour on and off for more than 10 years and they came up with the concept of what would Crimson material sound like if it was played in a different manner with a female singer. Such is the style they have brought together, that Pat’s largest impacts have been in the arrangements and production, as this does not provide much percussion at all: the music is being treated in a manner where there is just no need for the forceful nature he normally provides in his day job, and he is far more delicate. This is all about sumptuous arrangements with plenty of woodwind and piano, which allows Deborah to gently show off her fine voice. Given he has been involved so heavily with the band over such a long period of time, Pat has an in-depth knowledge of the available material and they decided to work through lyrics first, and then cut down possibilities from there resulting in these 12 numbers, which cover all of Crimson’s career and not just the more well-known songs. Pat only had one gig throughout the whole of 2020 due to the pandemic (with Stick Men), which means this was the longest continuous time they had ever spent together, and they used that to hone and layer this album. For most of the time, the album really does meet expectations, although “Elephant Talk” stands out for being very different indeed, as although it is enjoyable and well-constructed it is quite at odds. The highlight for me is probably “Book Of Saturday”, which has been transformed with some wonderful harp and flute. However, I can’t help but wonder if they had come across John Wetton’s version on the incredible ‘Sub Rosa’ live album, where he deconstructed songs from throughout his career to play them acoustically alongside David Kilminster and Martin Orford, as apart from the harp the arrangement feels very close indeed. This will obviously be of more interest to Crimson fans than to those who do not already know the music, which in many ways is a shame as they have undertaken a lovely re-interpretation of material which makes them seem like new songs in their own right. It will be interesting to see what comes next.