Earthling Society - Sweet Chariot

Earthling Society are one of the few bands I can say that, in my opinion, have never put a foot wrong. From their very first album 'Albion' (which had the honour of being Julian Cope's 'Album Of The Month') to last year's 'England Have My Bones' they have plowed their own furrow - taking in krautrock, psych, space rock, jazz and free-form explorations. The news that there was a new album brewing lifted my heart and raised my pulse...but, as always, there is always that nagging doubt.....will it meet expectations, have they broken with their tradition and recorded an urban hip-hop album.....basically will I love it like I have all the others. Well, the answer, dear readers, is a resounding yes! 'Sweet Chariot' is a triumph of creativity, musicianship and evolving atmospheres and frankly an album that needs to be heard.

The album is opened with 'Eddie', heralded by feedback and spacey effects. It evolves into a space rock number with squalling guitar and snippets of spoken word samples... a solid way in which to start. 'All In A Dream' opens with some backwards guitar before settling into a pastoral, folk inflected number. The track is a beguiling mix...the vocals and vibe are pure folk whilst in the background you can hear more spacey electronica and the guitar meanders between folk and psych...the backwards motif is revisited giving it at times an eerie but psychedelic feel. It comes to an end in a beautiful dissonant manner...psych guitar and electronica melding to create a disorientating but blissful ending. 'When A Child Cries An Angel Sighs' sees the band hark back to early late sixties / seventies psychedelic folk. A lilting, bucolic melody is underscored by some sold psych guitar to create a hazy atmosphere of bliss. More backwards guitar lends proceedings a genuine psychedelic feel. This more pastoral side to Earthling Society is new, but most welcome. The second side (of the vinyl) is taken up with one track; 'Sweet Chariot', split into 2 parts. 'Part 1' is a is a dissonant coming together of drones, feedback and squealing guitars. It provides a contrast to the more melody driven numbers on the first side. It initially creates an atmosphere of claustrophobia in the listener...a dense wall of sound with no let up.....not driven by power and noise, but rather by density. A melody appears later in the track, a synth driven meander through the cosmos a la Tangerine Dream that not only lightens the mood but changes it completely into something far more blissful and introspective. 'Part 2' sees a shift in approach - another trip back in time to the sixties/seventies but with some fantastic guitarwork from Fred Laird, Fleetwood's own Jimi Hendrix. The guitar roams and wails veering between cosmic spacerock and hazy psych. The track breaks down as it nearers its climax. The guitar drops away and is replaced by swathes of synths and the whole structure falls away to become more freeform and fluid. Coruscating effects, shimmering cymbals and crystalline guitar bring the track, and the album, to a close.

I suppose I was always gonna say this, but 'Sweet Chariot' is a triumph! It eschews from any traditional structure or approach; it is like a sentient being - going where it wants to go and straying off the path despite the 'Stay Off' signs. On first listen you are never sure where the next twist will take you - from pastoral folk to heavy psych or from seventies krautrock to experimental musings. I like that in an album - that uncertainty of the journey on which it takes you...as long as it's done well...and this is done very well. Anyone who has heard any of Earthling Society's prior releases already knows that the guys can play and function seamlessly as a unit, and on 'Sweet Chariot' this unity is brought to the fore. This album is experimental without being up itself, powerful when it needs to be but not afraid to relax into more gentle territory and, most importantly, it sounds amazing! 'Sweet Chariot' is released on Clostridium Records and can be purchased on coloured vinyl via their webshop here.