It’s quite a psychedelic record in its own right. In places the sort of sun-bleached, washed out psychedelics found on Tim Buckley or Gene Clark LPs dominate – but the sounds harnessed to create this feeling are great and very much their own master
It’s quite a psychedelic record in its own right. In places the sort of sun-bleached, washed out psychedelics found on Tim Buckley or Gene Clark LPs dominate – but the sounds harnessed to create this feeling are great and very much their own master
A very, very good record indeed, measured, reflective, and intelligent. Now and again I do think of musicians like Elliot Smith and Kelley Stoltz – it’s the soft vocals I think and the slightly jazzy psychedelic inflection in the arrangements – noticeable in Hold the Fire, (the unfortunately titled) This Wind of Mine or Lucky Number Seven. The album overall is a good example that soulful American take on a frazzled kind of Beatles pop – Rubber Soul given a new template – Stroke of the Night being particularly reminiscent of something Harrison could have written on the White Album.
It’s quite a psychedelic record in its own right. In places the sort of sun-bleached, washed out psychedelics found on Tim Buckley or Gene Clark LPs dominate – but the sounds harnessed to create this feeling are great and very much their own master; the phasing on Brain Pollution – which is happy to float around in its own sonic stew for as long as it seems fit – is just great. And it’s a soulful disc – best heard through the warm guitar plucks and the retro key sounds on Peace to Pieces – which combine with the great minor to major chord shifts to create a fabulous “quiet-but-serious” soul pop song. The record has an agenda; there’s a distinct feel of wondering at the world’s ills that is at once very sixties in vibe and very much of this moment too. The soft and tessellate title track is a great exponent of the LP’s message, as is the rockin’ stroll, No More Videos Just Teasers, which could be a Joni Mitchell track. Or the beautiful dreamscape that is Don’t Be the Cloud.
So in conclusion; this album is nowt new but it’s bloody good at what it does – great songs, well-orchestrated and well delivered. And you should give it a listen.