Golden Death Music

Drenched in a worldly psychedelic folk sheen and born in a swell of gurgling electronic stutters, Ephemera Blues seems to draw from Golden Death Music’s collective unconscious. An instinctive blend of cultural keys and conventions from Latin, jazz and Eastern music is tempered by perspectives equally influenced by trip-hop, pop, electronic music and noise. The pristinely beautiful songs recall the psychedelic playfulness of early Pink Floyd mixed with the hypnotic haze of Slowdive, anchored by the globetrotting pop of His Name is Alive. Building in quality through early standouts like "Walking Nightmare” to mid-album gems "Lost In Violence” and "Ephemera Blues,” the first misstep comes with "In Silence,” which borrows far too closely from album opener "Endless Dream” for comfort. This slightly lazy transgression only highlights the repetitive overuse of atmospheric elements and melody fragments that holds Ephemera Blues back from true greatness. The trip is one well worth taking though, and the closing voyage of amniotic lullaby "Into the Ocean” is one of the many reasons I’ll embark frequently.