Browsing Tag

Psych Folk

Strap yourselves in for the sonically celestial ride Suris will take you on with their psych-folk album, ‘Bonehouse’.

Posted on 29 April 2021

UK-based husband and wife duo Suris released their third album, Bonehouse, on April 29th. After a six-year gap in releases, anyone previously acquainted with their arcane sound will want to adjust their expectations accordingly for the evolution in their expression. During lockdown, Suris have taken their sound to an artfully transcendent level; strap yourselves in for the smooth celestial ride.

The album starts with ‘Argus’, a spacey ambient feat of psych-folk that carries reminiscence to Bowie through the argonaut-inspired instrumentals and Kate Bush through Lindsey’s vocals which switch from evocative vibrato to chorally ethereal and back again. It perfectly sets the tone for the record that never allows you to get comfortable.

Instead, with their soulfully pretence-less writing and production style, Suris meld elements of jazz, folk, progressive rock, psych-pop and avant-garde pop in compelling arrangements that breathe with the new age freedom of a Fleetwood Mac record, yet, there is always something striking, and indulgently unsettling waiting for you in the next progression.

With the more atmospheric singles such as, ‘Wanted’, and ‘Eclipse’, the self-recorded and produced record feels so spiritual that it almost becomes metaphysical. Bonehouse is an incredible testament from Suris. If you appreciate true aural pioneers, you’ll want them on your radar.

Bonehouse is available to stream from April 29th, 2021. You can check it out for yourselves on SoundCloud.

Keep up to date with new releases from Suris via Facebook and Instagram.

Psych Folk meets Old School Blues in Reverend James Elmore Jenkins’ single, ‘Rise Up!’

Posted on 5 April 2021

Rise Up! is the latest single to be released by Tennessee-hailing minister and musician Reverend James Elmore Jenkins; the request won’t seem all that unreasonable once you’ve experienced the upraising melding of old school blues and psych-folk.

With dizzying electronic effect, potentially more mind-warping than anything that The Legendary Pink Dots have ever offered, infused into the soulful Americana soundscape – complete with lap steel guitar twangs, Rise Up! It is practically a transcendental experience. Any fans of the Blues greats such as Blind Willie Johnson won’t want to miss out on this release.

Rise Up! officially released on April 1st; you can check it out for yourselves via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Find the optimism in existentialism with Bill E Daly’s latest single, ‘All We Have’.

Posted on 11 March 2021

‘All We Have’ is the fourth single to be released by Irish singer-songwriter Bill E Daly, an artist in the habit of shifting perspectives with the lyricism cased in their constantly in-flux sound. The only constant is the assurance that you’ll be drawn in by introspection that dares you to embrace the dark while seeing the light.

By channelling the Doors and Cash into All We Have, it boasts the perfect contrast between tonal accordance and swampy lyrics. The dark folk imagery takes your psyche to a macabre school while Southern bluesy soul reaches out with a touch of compassion.

With their next single ready for official release on April 22nd, it will be more than worth making room on your radar for the singer-songwriter – especially given their tendency to pull optimism out of existentialism.

All We Have is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Leopold Medley asks us all to touch his pretty ‘Picture On The Wall’

Posted on 7 March 2021

Laid back, trippy, vulnerable, gentle, arty, and honest – all words which could be used to describe Brooklyn artist Leopold Medley’s debut album of folk-pop, ‘Picture On The Wall’. This, the first single and title track, is a perfect introduction to Medley’s spacey, stream-of-consciousness lyric writing and calm fingerpicked guitar.

Anyone who ever played the teen-soap-cum-time-bending video-game Life Is Strange will know immediately the sound of ‘Picture On The Wall’, that sort of ‘Pooka-esque’ gentle Nick Drake-with-electronics, trippy bedroom-ness that’s questioning and calming all at the same time.

‘Picture On The Wall’ – the album – is ten tracks of soft, beautiful psych-folk that uplifts the soul and brings a smile to even the most jaded of faces; ‘Picture On The Wall’ – the single – is the perfect introduction to that.

You can check out ‘Picture On The Wall’ across all major streaming platforms from the 12th February, and follow Leopold Medley on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

The Home Stretch made a seafaringly sweet debut with their album ‘Ocean Boy’

Posted on 1 March 2021

Discernibly, it isn’t just the artwork for The Home Stretch’s album ‘Ocean Boy’ which Neutral Milk Hotel inspired, the same lo-fi psych folk sound resounds right through the debut album from the Birmingham-based newcomers.

The seafaringly sweet album starts with the title-track which allows you to wade into The Home Stretch’s cathartically panoramic signature sound which will undoubtedly be a hit with any fans of Deerhunter.

There’s nothing ambient about the intricate art rock guitar progressions which pop with bluesy pronunciation, but you’ll feel serenity wash over you as you let this mellifluously stunning soundscape arrest your rhythmic pulses and offer indulgent aurally-derived escapism.

Ocean Boy is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

More Than Skies – Tomorrow Won’t Bother: Psychedelically Cinematic Angsty Folk Rock

Posted on 26 November 2020

More Than Skies is the project of New York singer-songwriter Adam James. With two EP’s and a self-released double-album since its inception in 2006, James now drops his new album, ‘Tomorrow Won’t Bother’, leading off with this, the title track.

Perhaps best described as mildly psychedelic-sounding angsty folk-rock, ‘Tomorrow Won’t Bother’ has a distinctly Beatles-y vibe to it, all beautiful wavering strings, strummed acoustic guitar, and a hugely classy piano-led intro, all held together by James’ effortless vocal. There’s a pizzicato element to the strings adding some percussive drive to the middle section, a charmingly ‘Leslie Cabinet’ dopplering tremolo effect to James’ voice, and that delicious piano intro and outro, all adding serious class to an already beautifully crafted and performed track. ‘Tomorrow Won’t Bother’ is the perfect taster.

Hear ‘Tomorrow Won’t Bother’ on Spotify; check out More Than Skies on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Greet the Futility of Existence in Nero Kane’s Darkly Hypnotic Second Album “Tales of Faith and Lunacy”

Posted on 30 October 2020

Italian Dark Psych Folk artist Nero Kane released their sophomore album, ‘Tales of Faith and Lunacy’, on October 30th, following on from the plaintively arid psychedelia in their debut album ‘Love in a Dying World’.

After tracks from their debut album quickly fell into my ‘on repeat’ playlist on Spotify, there was no preparing me for how dark this album was going to be. The droning walls of noise leave you utterly paralysed by the intensity of the emotion. It’s so much more than just senseless nihilism, it’s a series of reflective admissions made regrettably, but sincerely all the same.

Nero Kane

Despite melancholy being a recurring theme, the expansive release offers a myriad of introspective wormholes to slip into. Each track will surprise you more than the last. For anyone that believes that albums are outdated formats, Tales of Faith and Lunacy will prove you wrong. It tears you from the 21st century and invites you to explore a gothic American western landscape constructed by hypnotic minor-key psych-folk infusions with the ability to subjugate your entire consciousness. The space left between the notes in the looped riffs allow your fear, disenchantment and isolation to coalesce with the soundscape.

Lord Won’t Come sets such a devastating tone for the album. The title becomes a mantra as it confirms your fears; there is no salvation which follows the traversing of our seemingly-condemned quite literally scorched earth. Bauhaus and Nick Cave reminiscences are easy to conjure, but Nero Kane has an authentically unique ability to console you, even when he’s telling you that your soul is damned.

Track 2, Mechtild, where you can truly start to appreciate Nero Kane for his inclination to look outside of music for inspiration. Mechtild was inspired by the life of a Christian medieval mystic, the drawn-out notes resonate like celestially meditative whispers implanted by a lover, chilling but passionate all the same.

There isn’t a skippable track on the album but Track 4, Magdalene, offers an unparalleled level of dizzying entrancement as it sonically effervesces. It is the epitome of psychedelia; it almost makes you question your ability to cognitively function as it consumes you. Atop of the viscerally ensnaring kaleidoscopic tones, you’ll find Samantha Stella Stella’s sermonic vocals which will leave you floored by their gracefully convictive command.

Nero Kane

The release poignantly paints a picture of how lunacy has the potential to be in everything we do and everything we feel, from the following of faith to battling self-inflicted psychological destitution. But perhaps more imperatively, the album highlights the danger of going into yourself, only to find madness. After what we have all been through in 2020, Tales of Faith and Lunacy unravels as the cultural sanctity we’ve all been crying out for.

Tales of Faith and Lunacy is due for release on October 30th via Nasoni Records.

Grab a vinyl LP (Black or Crystal Clear), CD Digipack, limited edition cassette or digital copy via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nero Kane

 

Peregrino – Fire Away: Warmly Hypnotic Alt Indie Folk Rock  

Posted on 19 February 2020

Up and coming Alt Folk Rock artist Peregrino released their debut album “Feels Like Leaving” in 2019. If you missed it, you also missed a record which could simultaneously appease Soft Rock, Folk and Psych Blues fans alike.

If you dissect the standout single “Fire Away”, you’ll find a sticky-sweet melange of warm and cathartic tones which seem to evolve with each progression. The momentum may build, but the tranquillity of Fire Away is perpetual.

Fire Away kicks off with a mesmerizingly winding melody which ensures that you’re suitably captivated before Peregrino’s vocals creep in with plenty of vocal resonance. While Peregrino may share vocal reminiscences with the likes of Elliot Smith, the soundscape is a dynamic feat of ingenuity which you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

You can check out Fire Away along with the rest of Peregrino’s album for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Embrace the Chaos of Harry & the Hootenannies’ Latest Psych Folk Single “Fast Lane”

Posted on 25 February 2019

When it comes to checking out new bands, usually, throughout the prelude you’ll sit in a state of vacant cynicism, waiting to make your verdict. However, the latest track by the Psychedelic Folk aficionados Harry & the Hootenannies “Fast Lane” has you feeling the rhythm in just the first few muted guitars notes of the prelude before the track explodes into infectiously magnetic catharsis.

But you don’t have to wait for long before the slaps of the 5-string bass fade in which will enamour any fans of Mr Bungle.  There’s a gloriously mechanical clockwork rhythm to the instrumentals, the choppy and chunky riffs are just as infectious as what you get from Queens of the Stone Age, but there’s a far quainter appeal to the sound of Harry & the Hootenannies. The majority of the quintessential charm of the single falls down to the vocals from Harry Braswell.

You can check out Harry & the Hootenannies’ latest single Fast Lane for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Keep up to date with all their latest releases via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast