Majesty

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:41:58
Audio Mixers: Dan Leavers; Kristian Craig Robinson; Flamingods. Recording information: Lightship95 Studios. The third studio long-player from the globe-trotting indie rock quintet, Majesty is Flamingods most accessible outing to date; a densely layered yet consistently effervescent collection of worldbeat-infused psych-pop that invokes names like Animal Collective, Temples, Bibio, Konono No1, and Goat. With roots in both the U.K. and Bahrain, the group's propensity toward utilizing North African and Middle Eastern textures is hardly surprising, but those cultural touchstones are integrated in a wholly organic way throughout the LP's just-over-40-minute runtime. The folkloric narrative -- Majesty is billed as a conceptual album following a protagonist named Yuka and his journey of enlightenment -- is largely formulaic, in a kind of Beatlesy mysticism sort of way, but it serves the music effectively, providing a bit of context when things start to get a little heady on the sonic front. Split thematically into two parts -- morning/good and evening/evil, the album's most compelling moments arrive early, with songs like "Taboo Grooves," "Majestic Fruit," and the kaleidoscopic title cut delivering equal amounts of atmosphere and hooks. The back half is a bit darker, with the band employing more muscle and a bit more experimentation, especially on the hypnotic "Rhama" and the dizzying "Gojira," but even then, the record as a whole never really loses its jaunty, quasi-new age spirituality. It's a ramshackle ride, to say the least, and there are long stretches that would require multiple cups of Ayahuasca to fully absorb, but Majesty is ultimately a looking glass worth taking a trip through. ~ James Christopher Monger