As “Woke Up” kicks things off, we, the listeners, are immersed in a wonderful blend of shoegazing meets psychedelia meets arabesque spice, as if Ride had formed, not in late eighties Oxford but in the back of a VW Campervan two decades earlier on the hippy trail somewhere between Marrakesh and Goa.
But, of course, you can’t judge an album by merely its opening song, great though it is, and this is indeed a collection of songs that run through many sonic moods. “The Grand Society” jogs along on that Kinks-esque blend of lilt and light and quirk and quaintness, or at least the version of it that filtered down through the Britpop years. And “Slow Wave” takes us to a perfectly poised place on the indie/shoegaze line of demarcation: too smart to be the former, too light to be the latter, and perhaps the best of both worlds.
And then there are songs that take a purer pop route. “Map To You” ticks all the right boxes for today’s pop but also echos something more nostalgic and subtly done, like the serene sound that The Lilac Time used to excel at back in the day, (The fact that this is the second time I have referenced them this week can only be a good thing, right?) or Aztec Camera on their spectacular debut album, High Land Hard Rain.
There is a lot that is familiar to be found on Lanterna Magica, but there is also a lot here that the modern musical scene is sorely missing, especially in terms of melody and accessibility, finesse, and immediacy. Young, up-and-coming indie bands could learn a lot by studying this album.
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