Cairo's 'Nemesis' - Album Review

Despite being a big fan of the seemingly-defunct British progressive rock band Touchstone, I think that it is fair to say that I have not given Cairo, the band which Touchstone's keyboard player and co-lead vocalist Rob Cottingham formed after leaving the five-piece in 2015, as much of a listen as I should have. Touchstone were one of my big discoveries of 2008, having been blown away by the band's set at that year's iteration of the Cambridge Rock Festival. I purchased a copy of their debut album Discordant Dreams, which had been released the previous year, at the festival - and it become one of my favourite albums of that time - and the release of Wintercoast in 2009 only cemented my love for the band further. Touchstone released two more albums: The City Sleeps in 2011 and Oceans of Time in 2013; both of which are very enjoyable, particularly The City Sleeps, but, for me, they did not quite match the quality of the first two. By 2015 I get the impression that the band's main writers: Cottingham, guitarist Adam Hodgson, and frontwoman Kim Seviour; all had different ideas about where Touchstone should go - and ultimately decided to split. Hodgson carried on with Touchstone, whose next line-up splintered after releasing a decent EP and have essentially been dormant since, Seviour released the enjoyable Recovery is Learning (which I reviewed here) in 2017, and Cottingham formed Cairo - a band with which he could lead the charge again. Touchstone, especially in the early days, was very much Cottingham's band. He formed the band back in 2003, and was the dominant force, both vocally and lyrically, throughout their early period - but this dynamic seemed to shift as the years went on. For me, I think Touchstone worked as they were more than the sum of their parts. Cottingham's pop leanings and Hodgson's harder rock influences meshed over a shared love of progressive rock, and Touchstone's best work featured those disparate influences all pulling in the same direction. As such, I have never felt that anything that Cottingham and Hodgson have done apart from each other has reached the heights of Touchstone's best work. That being said, though, Cairo's 2016 debut album Say was enjoyable. It is not an album that I have given a lot of time to over the years, but Cottingham's style is distinct from the off - and it very much feels like his work, in line with his couple of solo albums. Following up Say has taken Cottingham and the band quite a while, though. A couple of frontwoman changes likely did not help, but Cairo's line-up seems to be pretty set now - with frontwoman Sarah Bayley, guitarist James Hards, bassist Paul Stocker, and drummer Graham Brown backing Cottingham on Cairo's recently-released second album Nemesis. Having listened to Nemesis quite a bit over the past month, it feels more assured than Say. Say at times felt more like a collection of ideas, some of which had not been fully fleshed out, but Nemesis feels like a complete album - and it is one that plays to Cottingham's strengths, despite a couple of somewhat undercooked ideas. There are lots of lush melodies and pop hooks here, but everything is tied together by progressive rock threads.

Despite this, though, the album opens with a bang. There is no scene-setting here, as Asleep at the Wheel opens with a barrelling guitar riff form Hards, backed by a crashing drum break from Brown, and the song's opening section feels pretty metallic as a result. Much of the rest of the album is not this heavy, but the riffing certainly grabs the listener's attention before transitioning into something more atmospheric. The song seems to get going proper once Cottingham's synths join in, with Hards switching over to a more melodic lead-based approach, before another riffy section, this time backed by keyboard stabs, injects further heaviness. The opening moments of the album are pretty varied, then, and the song morphs again once Bayley starts singing. She approaches the verses here by singing in a lower-than-usual register, and the effects on her voice create an unsettling sound - which suits the chiming guitar backing, pulsing bassline, and occasional explosions of riffing that back her. Despite the more atmospheric approach taken, the toughness of the song's intro remains - and the song feels weighty as a result. As such, when another transition sees the band move further into a more atmospheric territory, then, the contrast between the two sounds is stark. Cottingham adds his vocals to this more progressive-sounding section, his melodic tones cutting through the swirling synth leads. This section is more akin to Cottingham's typical approach - but the gnarlier riffing either side still sounds natural, and the album's opening is a good mix of heavy and atmospheric, with the opening riff being reprised as the song comes to a close. Tripwire opens with some effects-heavy wordless vocals from Cottingham, before another strong riff from Hards kicks in - and the band lay down a relatively up-tempo hard rocking groove, which Bayley soon starts to sing over. There is a bit more of a classic rock strut present here, with Cottingham's synths generally scaled back to allow the guitars and bass to shine. With much of this album having a strong progressive rock influence, Tripwire is pretty straightforward - and is a song which clearly goes for accessible hooks and grooves more than a more complex arrangement. Bayley shines, with her snappy vocal hooks during the hard-driving verses sounding powerful - whilst the chorus sees a bigger overall vocal arrangement with Cottingham adding harmonies and more of a keyboard presence. Despite a slightly synth-heavy bridge and later closing section, the song never really deviates from its core approach - which is welcome given the more involved arrangements which follow throughout the album.

Glow then changes tack from the off, and strips away all the heaviness of the previous songs - instead going for a keyboard-led approach. Songs like this are more typical of Cottingham's core style I think, although the song opens in a very stripped back manner - with Bayley's delicate vocals set against a shimmering keyboard backing. Cottingham's piano notes are slow-burning, but this perfectly sets the tone and allows Bayley to shine - and it also creates a strong contrast when the rest of the band join in. Hards immediately launches into a soaring guitar solo, which is packed full of emotion, which Cottingham then takes over from - adding a busy synth solo before Bayley starts to sing again, this time in a more full-bodied manner to befit the song's larger arrangement. The song is on the short side, though, which is a bit of a shame as I feel that it could have been developed further - but it is nevertheless a strong addition to the album. Rogue adds a bit more of a harder rock edge again, but this song feels like a real hark back to Touchstone's overall approach. The overall arrangement feels like an attempt to recapture the magic of Touchstone's early sound, and it largely works. Hards' guitar approach adds just enough crunch and melody without dominating as he did earlier in the album, whilst Cottingham's keyboards and harmony vocals bulk out the sound nicely. The rhythm section of Stocker and Brown also contribute plenty of grooves - and some of the drum fills here do well to add interesting accents during the snappy verses. Bayley's vocals are a little edgier here, too, recalling Seviour's general approach throughout her time in Touchstone - and the melodies overall are just classic Cottingham. Despite always assuming that Cairo was Cottingham's way of carrying on what he saw as Touchstone's sound, the band have not often sounded like Touchstone all that much. Rogue is a clear call back to that era of Cottingham's writing, though, and it is a song that really stands out to me as a result. The bridge section which sees Cottingham take over vocally really could have sat nicely on Discordant Dreams, and as the song closes on a piano-led melody the ghost of Touchstone is very much present. The Love, the lyrics of which were based on a poem written by Cottingham's wife, returns to a more delicate approach, with piano opening things up - before Bayley starts to sing against a gentle keyboard backing. There are shades of the opening of Glow here, but the song feels more organic overall, at least early on, and Bayley sings in a more emotionally-charged manner. Like Glow, though, the song is similarly-structured with the band joining in after a short while. Marching drums are the first addition, but the rest of the band soon make their presence felt - particularly Hards, who lays down a lengthy and extremely melodic guitar solo which really showcases his talents as a guitarist. Cottingham leads this band, but he knows when to let others shine - and Hards elevates the song with his excellent solo, before the band drop away again to leave Bayley and Cottingham to close things out with a final verse and a piano coda.

New Beauty also opens slowly, but this time with Hards' melodic guitar melodies - which are backed by some dreamy keyboard lines, all of which slowly grow in intensity over the course of a minute of so. The song overall, though, is punchier, and it is not long before Brown's drums kick in and a spiky verse takes over - with both Bayley and Cottingham singing in a more staccato manner. 'Spiky' is a good way to describe the song overall, but not in a way which might be expected. The riffing throughout is generally not all that heavy, despite the occasional stab, but the song just feels quite angular throughout thanks to the vocal melodies and the coldness of Cottingham's synths. Brown's drumming is also generally quite off-kilter, with his rhythms often backing a relatively sparse arrangement - giving them more prominence than usual. Occasional bursts of melodic guitar and synth leads add colour, but in general this song feels more unconventional than much of the rest of the album thanks to its rhythmic nature and sparse arrangement. This is until the end, though, which suddenly explodes into a flurry of hooky piano melodies which definitely hark back to Touchstone's classic sound in a very deliberate way. Déjà Vu also opens slowly, with some more slow-burning guitar lines creating a darker sound - and this mood is continued on throughout. Like the previous song, Bayley and Cottingham sing in unison during the verses - with Cottingham's voice pushed more to the fore. I am surprised that this does not happen more throughout the album, but Cottingham is clearly happy to step back a bit vocally if he feels it serves the song to do so - but I like his vocal dominance here, as his distinct voice has always been a big part of why I like his songs. It is another short song, which again I feel could have been developed further, but it works as a brief moment of darkness before the more expansive pieces which follow in the album's closing third. Jumping on the Moon is very different from the off, and is easily the most upbeat song on the album. Cottingham has always been a big fan of the poppier end of progressive rock, and the song perfectly showcases his love for that style. There is an AOR edge to the song throughout, and the keyboard sounds used are right out of the 1980s. Pompy keyboard hooks drive the upbeat and pulsing chorus, which is brought to life by Bayley's poppy vocal hooks, whilst the riffs below add a decent amount of crunch to stop the song feeling too lightweight. Due to its focus on big hooks, Jumping on the Moon was a song that really stood out to me from the off. Cottingham has written songs like this before, and there are some shades of Touchstone here, but overall the song does sound more 1980s AOR-inspired than his general approach - and that works for me as I love that sort of music. There is also a strong guitar solo from Hards part way through the song, too, and the track is easily the most fun that the album has with its core sound.

Save the Earth then takes a different path, as it is essentially a synth-heavy instrumental which creates a strong soundscape. There is some spoken word which carries on throughout, but it is mixed in such a way that it is quite hard to hear what is being said - so the voice almost is used more for effect than for its message. The song is very different to everything else on the album, and essentially just features Cottingham and his army of synths. Everything here is programmed, with pulsing synths creating a subtle beat whilst the soundscapes are laid on top of it. It sounds like something which Trent Reznor might write for one of his more droning albums or film soundtracks, but it works well to create a strong atmosphere before the album's longer closing title track. As such, then, when the band next crash in, Nemesis has arrived and the title track feels like a triumphant victory lap after what has been a pretty diverse album up to this point. Cottingham's epic keyboard hook leads the expansive mid-paced opening, which harks back to Touchstone's lushness, but this soon drops away for the opening verse, which sees Cottingham singing alone against some synths and a subtle drum loop - with Bayley occasionally adding harmonies. Those who wanted to hear more of Cottingham's vocals will love this song, as he tends to dominate throughout. This really brings early Touchstone to mind, then, and there are lots of call backs to Cottingham's former band as a result. The chorus melodies, which see his keyboard hook returning, again could have sat on Discordant Dreams, and the subtle vocal harmonies throughout from Bayley really elevate the song - despite Cottingham dominating. All of the more angular sounds which have been experimented with throughout this album are discarded here, and Nemesis really plays to Cottingham's strengths. Songs like this are what I really want to hear from him, as he really nails this style of songwrtiting - and as the song builds the lushness only deepens, and Hards starts to expand his role by adding a slow-burning and melodic guitar solo. Hards' solo is quite lengthy, and adds to the song's overall atmosphere perfectly. It is also the album's last big musical expression, as once it comes to an end the song is almost done - with just a few bubbling synths present as it slowly fades out. The song is one of the album's best in my opinion, and it really showcases Cottingham's core style perfectly - and it ends the strong album on a real high. Despite not really getting into Say, Nemesis for me really delivers. It is an album which I have been enjoying a lot over the past month, and it feels more much more assured and confined than Say's more scattergun approach. In the absence of Touchstone, Nemesis feels like the next-best thing - and I can see myself playing it a lot over the coming months.

The album was released on 5th May 2023 via Heavy Right Foot Records/Spirit of Unicorn Music. Below is the band's promotional video for Tripwire.