Search & Seizure – island
Similar artists: Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Interpol, Linkin Park, Deftones
Each era has its own brand own of psychosis, its own preferred variation of psychedelics, and, most naturally, its own psychedelic music. People unfamiliar with the joys of strange, otherworldly music of this kind may believe that its sole objective is to get people to forget about their worries and get them to focus on something much more distant instead. This is false!
If anything, psychedelic music emphasizes the things that define society and then overexposes them to such an extent that they no longer seem like a real threat. Modern psychedelic music cannot exist, of course, without hinting at the perils and joys of technology, the threat of overpopulation, and an overarching fear that there is little left for humans to discover.
Search & Seizure’s island is a prime example of modern psychedelic music. There’s no emphasis on strange colors and extravagant garb. Our regular clothes would be shocking enough to humans of the past. The complex, languid tune instead hints merely at unrest and a desire for escape. Every era has its psychedelic music and this might be ours.
Rosalyn – Spin
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Lo-fi Rock, Indie Rock
Similar artists: Tame Impala, Parcels
A formula for a rock hit gets repeated often. It only makes sense. On the one hand, why wouldn’t the record labels attempt to profit after testing the waters with so many songs that do not become hits? That’s not how art functions. But, it certainly is the way that commerce works.
On the other hand, the public profits. Why wouldn’t the audiences want to hear the same kind of brilliance that they endorsed on previous hits? This is not always as easily achieved as my previous statement may have made it sound, but it doesn’t stop bands from chasing this elusive sonic El Dorado.
Rosalyn’s Spin is an honest crack at the psychedelic-pop sound that has produced bonafide hits in recent years, but not often. It’s anyone’s guess why this beloved approach has only borne very few fruits. The Arctic Monkeys aren’t attempting it anymore and Tame Impala may have outgrown it. Thailand’s Rosalyn steps into the driver seat of this lush, slow, mysterious sound that seems to invoke summer days spent all alone on the world’s greatest sandy beach. What the world demands, the world gets.
