Cloudbelly is an award-winning indie-folk & chamber-pop band from Western MA with a sound that is at once intimate and cinematic.
The group is fronted by singer-songwriter Corey Laitman, a former member of the NYC antifolk scene and Signature Sounds record label, whose ethereal poeticisms are delivered in a spellbinding voice that tips its cap to Sufjan Stevens and Joni Mitchell in equal measure. Laitman is joined by guitarist and ambient sound sculptor Sam Perry (SVIP), and drummer, producer, and sound mangler Nate Mondschein (who often works under the moniker of Best Mann)
Cloudbelly’s music has been recognized by the Kerrville New Folk Competition, New Song at Citizen Vinyl, WBUR Tiny Desk Roundup, and Signature Sounds Record Label. The band has played Green River Festival, Arcadia Folk Fest, and Meadowlark Festival, sharing the stage with Bonny Light Horseman, Sean Rowe, Josh Ritter, and many others. Next up for the band is an extended US tour beginning in February 2024 in support of their new album.
On their latest project, their sophomore LP i know i know i know, the group (along with frequent collaborator/bassist/keyboardist/string arranger Reed Sutherland) merges their individual superpowers to create a collection of tracks that flirts with experimentalism without ever abandoning its tether to a recognizable emotional bedrock. The record features everything from hook-heavy indie rock anthems to tender folk ballads, left-of-center art-pop odes to hypnotic, haunting meditations; but each highlights Laitman’s unique ability to send listeners spiraling into reverie, only to grab them by the collar and set them back on solid ground.
Corey wrote the bulk of i know i know i know in the aftermath of the consecutive, tightly-timed implosion of two formative relationships. The album is - among other things - a document of their sincere effort to grieve; to remember; to take stock; to get angry; to forgive; and to reconcile the painful necessity of those relationships coming to an end.
The album’s title (drawn from the chorus of its second single, “Handfuls”) points to that knife’s edge divide, between the understanding of the way things are, and the seeming impossibility of embracing it. i know i know i know––acceptance and hesitation packaged in a single turn of phrase. It’s about confronting the fact that when it comes to healing and recovery, we are both the poison and the medicine. It’s about being present with the parts of ourselves that are in pain.
The bones of i know i know i know were recorded at Ghost Hit Recording in West Springfield, MA, with additional layers added and manipulated over the subsequent months from Nate’s production studio, Echo Base, in Mount Holly, VT, and Reed’s home base, The Barn. The album was mixed by Andrew Oedel at Ghost Hit, and mastered by Anni Abigail Casella.
The first single from the record, “November,” was released on December 1st, 2023, premiering on Glide Magazine and hitting 20k Spotify streams in just over one month. The follow-up single, “If You Want” was released Friday, January 12th, 2024, and the third and final single “Handfuls” premiered on Under The Radar Magazine on Feb 2nd. The full album was released via Strange Library Records on February 23rd, 2024.