The first few minutes of this record feel like a found recording of that time when Kate Bush was trapped inside a walk-in fridge with only a solitary recording of early Pink Floyd for company.
Just as you get used to that, a beast is woken up and the album surges majestically and powerfully to a very different higher energy place.
From track 3 onwards, there really is something for everyone. Daft Post-punk affected metal riffs mix seamlessly with new funk forms and Japanese math rock sensibilities.
Some might find there is a disjointedness or a jarring that is difficult to get a handle on but it is those surprises that give this recording a real weight, punctuation and a sense of ambition fulfilled. I doff my hat to you for taking brave chances and leaps of faith throughout. There are plenty of collaborations at play here and this gives spice, variety and immense tonal variation across this expansive work.
The whole thing reminds me of the serendipity you are rarely rewarded with when wandering between stages and tents at a really wild music festival after midnight when the freaks come out to play. You happen upon a rich vein of beautiful and sometimes unnerving surprises. In this case, even though each stage carries exactly the same band, it is one playing an unfathomably different set.
Bloomin’ marvellous.
