A lot of new psychedelic music falls into the same ol’ boring traps of drone music, dressed in skinny black jeans, and citing the same 4 or 5 bands as influence, when in fact, psychedelia is a much broader church than that. Which is why we’re thrilled about the newest LP from Marlene Ribeiro.
On her newest cut – ‘Torquei no Sol’ – you’ll not find cuts obsessed with the usual windowless, nocturnal stuff – it’s sun-bleached, strange, at times folky, at others completely spacey… it’s magical, dreamy stuff. Maybe it’s because Marlene is Portuguese, so instead of dreaming of art-student loft parties in NYC, the Left Banke, or Haight Ashbury, her music is strewn across some beach in the Algarve?
Insistent fuzz is replaced with the sound of running water, nature, and all that good stuff, letting the music sprout up between it all. It’s nourishing stuff. It feels good for the soul. It’s still super experimental, just as you’d hope.
There’s bossa rhythms, reed instruments bouncing off the inside of your head, fragments of melody, big electronics and neo-classical elements, and carpets of sound that will swallow you up. There’s something about it all that has echoes of Boards of Canada without sounding like them in any way. Maybe a sniff of Cate Le Bon too. Panda Bear fans will love it.
Whatever music it makes you think of, it’s leading to even more good music.
It’s sophisticated too. Not afraid to be smart. However, it’s not an exercise in nonsense intellectualism (not that there’s anything wrong with that per se), but rather, something that feels of the earth and from within (there’s some nonsense intellectualism for you). It’s one of those great albums that you can take at face value and listen to simply, or if you’re in the mood (and it is advised), you can burrow down deep into the layers and generally knock yourself out.
It’s out tomorrow (Feb 10th) so get on this. Make it a smash at your local record store. The flippers will be selling this for big bucks in a few years, but that’s of no interest to us now – grab a copy, cherish it, play it to death – this will be one of the most revered releases of 2023 come the end of the year, if there’s any justice to these things.
Brilliant stuff.
The Pop Corporation 
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