★★★★
Tucked under the covers of eccentric instrumentation and lo-fi formations of pastoral pop lies the playful ambition of kids operating on the margin of pot-soaked Americana with a ‘grass is always greener’ complex.
That’s the story behind The Babe Rainbow’s self-titled EP. This three-piece collective’s unaffected aesthetic is etched in the air of mild psychedelia; the type weaved with an attention and patience that is easy to underappreciate.
A torrent of echoing guitar lines and the clack of silverware-like percussion command opener ‘Love Forever’. Dreamlike sitar and esraj drone rhythms plait in and out for the bulk of ‘Secret Enchanted Broccoli Forest’. The signature reverberation brings to mind a sleepy-eyed Brian Jones amid a field of petals and slow-burning incense.
Aerial textures and hallucinogenic harmonies hover over a stable drum beat in ‘Planet Junior’. At the centre of this track rests a deliberate sense of ease that shape-shifts the EP to a gentler stance, not yet visited in its predecessors.
Things are eventually brought full circle as brisk tapping, woozy vocals, drowned out chords and hints of metallic clutter fill the output in ‘Ash May & Dr. Love Wisdom’. What a ride.
The Babe Rainbow’s The Babe Rainbow EP is available through Flightless/Remote Control
