“Here we orbit each other with creative collaboration,” says poet Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey on the opening and title track of Wave Cage’s new album Even You Can See in the Dark. That sentiment is central to the record itself. The band’s notes on the project — which was funded in part by the Iowa Arts Council — make explicit the ideas at its heart:
“Even You Can See in the Dark is an album dedicated to DIY music and art scenes everywhere. … We hope this record leaves you with a sense of our own Iowa community and the wonderful artists we have been lucky to collaborate with.”
Even You Can See in the Dark, released in late October, plays off this concept as the Iowa City band — Ryan Garmoe (trumpet, flugelhorn), Nolan Schroeder (tenor saxophone), Jarrett Purdy (Fender Rhodes, synths, synth bass) and Christopher Jensen (drums) — shares the record with a number of top-notch collaborators.
Rainey appears on three of the record’s eight tracks, building on the poet’s collaboration with the band on this year’s Heart Notes Live! project (of which this reviewer wrote, “the collaboration yields something engaging and often moving. It may not be all the way to alchemy, but it is far from subtraction by addition.”) Rainey’s tracks continue to make the album’s themes explicit via his spoken words.
The second track, “Break Out,” features just the members of Wave Cage, and serves as a reminder of what a solid band they are — and also as a baseline to establish how generously and creatively collaborative they are with the guests on the album.
Lyricist and vocalist Elly Hofmaier (stage name Penny Peach) brings a jazz-inflected soul to “Not This Time.” Hofmaier’s multitrack vocals are arresting. She and the band — especially Purdy — find a collective groove that made me eager to hear more from this particular partnership.
In an early moment in “Chemical Memory” — composed by and featuring guitarist Elvis Phillips — the horns do a strong impression of the horn section from the band Chicago (I almost expected Peter Cetera or Bill Champlin to jump in with a vocal). But it is Phillips’ guitar work in collaboration with Schroeder’s warmly aggressive sax playing that underpins the cut’s shifting moods. Phillips also appears on the Kyler Boss-penned track “Bumpus,” which features a riff on a heavy metal aesthetic.
The album closes with “No Them (Only Us),” composed by award-winning composer Michael Conrad, who also plays trombone on the track, joined by Christopher Merz on alto saxophone and Boss on synths. The longest work on the album at just over nine and half minutes, the composition builds steadily, opening with solo piano followed by a chamber music-adjacent horn section feature that is itself followed by a propulsive drum track over which Merz solos with an energy that pulls the listener along as the music unfurls. When everyone comes back together following a drum feature and a trombone solo, the record’s driving theme is palpable in the rich sound.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s November 2023 issue.
