Five Easy Masterpieces: an introduction to neo-psychedelia
We have many people to thank for the eternal wonders of psychedelic music. Immediately, Timothy Leary comes to mind as a critical protagonist. Beat writer Allen Ginsberg deemed the LSD-advocating psychologist “a hero of American consciousness”, while former president Richard Nixon labelled him “the most dangerous man in America”. Musicians like John Lennon and Brian Jones posed a similar threat to cultural preservation.
It is impossible to calculate how vital LSD’s role was in fuelling the countercultural revolution in the 1960s, but it certainly made for some interesting artistic developments. Try as John Lennon might to deny the influence of psychedelic drugs on ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’, lyrics like “a girl with kaleidoscope eyes” and the ego-death connotations of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ leave few questions on our lips.
Early progenitors of psychedelic rock, such as The Beatles, The 13th Floor Elevators and Cream, helped to pave the way towards the spectral complexities of the prog-rock era and the distorted mass of metal and punk. During the 1970s, cocaine seemed to take the driver’s seat from LSD, but psychedelia never flat-lined.
Neo-psychedelia as a genre is about as ill-defined as its timeframe, but it seemed to emerge in tandem with the post-punk wave. Echo and the Bunnymen’s Crocodiles could be seen as an early example, thanks to its celebration of The Doors’ beloved work. By the 1990s, the genre had separated itself from the post-punk wave but remained just as elusive.
Below, I have picked out five albums that I deem to be both intrinsically representative of the neo-psychedelia genre and highly enjoyable. Each album represents a different aspect of the genre, from electronica to psychedelic folk. Have a listen, and see where your tastes take you.
Five neo-psychedelic masterpieces:
Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (1997)
This list would feel incomplete without an entry from the legendary psychonaut Jason “J Spaceman” Pierce. It was a toss-up between this undeniable Spiritualized masterpiece or an album from his foundational run with Peter Kember in Spacemen 3. Ultimately, I chose the former as a consummate classic and a suitable starting point for newcomers to Pierce’s vast oeuvre.
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space is one of those rare gems that binds sonically disparate songs together in a curiously cohesive product. Pierce was famously keen on drug experimentation, and the songs seem to trace the associated ups and downs. We reach a point of rapture in ‘Cool Waves’ and ‘Come Together’, abject sorrow in ‘Broken Heart’ and ‘All of My Thoughts’ and psychedelic escape in the title track and ‘No God Only Religion’.
Tame Impala – Lonerism (2012)
Kevin Parker, the leading creative force behind Tame Impala, released his debut album, Innerspeaker, in 2010, ensuring a markedly psychedelic path for the decade to come. Alongside Pond, The Murlocs and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tame Impala put Australia on the musical map as the leader of a psychedelic resurgence in the 2010s. Meanwhile, Deerhunter and Wooden Shjips made similar moves in the US.
Since 2017’s Currents, Tame Impala has taken on a slightly more polished sound. These releases opened Parker up to a broader audience and allowed him to explore new territory, but the first two albums were the best in my book. Lonerism just about takes the golden medal thanks to its consistency and the beauty of highlights like ‘Apocalypse Dreams’, ‘Music To Walk Home By’, and ‘Mind Mischief’.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request (1996)
Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre is one of the most prolific and underrated rock musicians of the past three decades. The band consistently releases compelling music, celebrating a broad range of styles and updating them with modern techniques and attractive instrumental flourishes.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre set out in 1995 with the early masterpiece Methodrone. The album celebrated shoegaze and drone in a dark, psychedelic setting apt for this list. However, when it comes to neo-psychedelia, Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request is a more representative product. The album is home to the band’s signature hit, ‘Anemone’, but elsewhere, it celebrates the psychedelic sounds of the hippie wave with droning sitars, mellotrons, didgeridooos, farfisas, tablas, and congas.
Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See (1993)
The 1960s psychedelic wave was predominantly upbeat. ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ may have brought the intensity of a drug-induced befuddlement, and Jimi Hendrix wrote a song called ‘Manic Depression’, but the sound was still bright and intense. When the psychedelia returned in the 1980s and ’90s, artists like Mazzy Star brought a sedative to the cocktail.
In 1993, Mazzy Star released their most enduring masterpiece, So Tonight That I Might See. Throughout, Hope Sandoval weaves melancholic lyrical patterns over David Roback’s complementing instrumental compositions. Highlight moments like ‘Fade Into You’ and ‘Into Dust’ are folk-infused, but ethereal slide strings and droning guitars and keyboards bring a crucial, psychedelic edge.
Primal Scream – Screamadelica (1991)
In a similar vein to The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Primal Scream overtly celebrate the 1960s British invasion era. The band’s name is a reference to John Lennon, who popularised Arthur Janov’s experimental primal scream therapy in his 1970 song ‘Mother’. Like John Lennon, Primal Scream have an eye for catchy rock stylings but are never afraid to delve into the macabre and bizarre.
As the title suggests, Screamadelica is infused with psychedelia throughout its impressively eclectic tracklist. The album won the inaugural Mercury Music Prize in 1992, thanks to its discerning celebration of the contemporary rave scene. Benefitting hugely from a collaboration with acid house producer Andrew Weatherall, Screamadelica seems to trace the emotions of a rave with the heady peaks of ‘Loaded’ and ‘Higher Than The Sun’ and the crashing lows of ‘Damaged’ and ‘I’m Comin’ Down’.