Until recently, Robert Harrison – one of the most woefully underrated songwriters in Austin, Texas – led the long-running Cotton Mather, whose catalog of psychedelic power pop would be the envy of any of their better-known peers. Back in 2007, Harrison started Future Clouds & Radar, a side project/sequel to Mather with a similar sensibility and a wider musical outlook. With Cotton Mather on ice, Harrison returns to FC&R for Big Weather, the combo’s first album since 2008.
As before, Harrison uses the opportunity of a band without expectations to stretch out his sonic palette. The burly “The Hype,” for example, muscles up Harrison’s usual milieu, nudging the guitars toward hard rock territory, even as the melody remains resolutely pop. “Going to Meet the Big Man” and “Cabbage Town” revisit the Americana-inflected singer/songwriter sound Harrison explored on his overlooked 2021 solo album Watching the Kid Come Back. The delightful “Brass Tacks” puts its main riff in the hands of a vibraphonist, rather than a guitarist, making the tune lighter than air, even while it rocks.
Just to remind us where he came from, Harrison revives the spirit of Mather for the catchy anthem “The Man Who Would Be King,” the guitar popper “Chicken Out,” and the compact psych epic “The Copy Cat.” It’s not a retreat, but a reiteration that, while Harrison’s songwriting keeps the faith it always has, all other bets are off. That makes Big Weather one of the strongest entries in Harrison’s thirty-year catalog.
