Automatism – ‘From The Lake’ (2018)
Debut album (not counting their eponymous track downloadable on their Bandcamp site) from the Swedish psych quartet that grew out of Kungens Män, both of whom specialize in improvised “music that plays itself without effort”.
The half dozen tracks float seamlessly between lengthy jam workouts, such as the astonishing twelve and a half minute opener ‘Standing Wave’ that creates a marvelously groovy vibe, a la Spacious Mind to shorter bursts of celestial inspiration like the perfectly-titled drifters ‘At Sea’ and ‘October Swim’.
Other tracks, like ‘Floating Downstream’ and ‘Ice-Floe’ spell everything out and tell you what to expect, and Automatism do not disappoint. The other monster, the 12-minute ‘Propeller Propulsion’ glistens and throbs like an amoeba earworm burrowing into your brain – a motorific krautrockin’ gem that lives up to its title – reminding me of a bit like a mellower version of Golden Earring’s ‘Radar Love’, but with snaking guitar lines and heartpounding drums to get the adrenaline pumping.
Recommended to fans of languid, dreamy psychedelia, particularly anyone with an addiction to fellow Swedish space travelers The Spacious Mind, My Brother The Wind, Dungen, The Amazing, and the mother ship, Kungens Män. This is a heavy-lidded winner!
