Purple Stone – Spacetime
It has been a while since we had a chance to write about a duo that sounds this good, and when they’re exploring music genres we love from the bottom of our hearts, every listening session becomes such a treat. As you probably already know, the psychedelic rock scene has thrived over the last couple of years, with many new bands and acts delivering high-quality music. It seems like many of them are overly experimenting, exploiting their influences to the max, or mimicking something that the greats recorded and performed decades ago. Thankfully, there are still music outlets capable of writing, composing, and recording unique tracks, rarely heard or seen today. Purple Stone, a duo hailing from northern Sweden, brought “Spacetime,” their second full-length offering that carries a comprehensive collection of fresh, unique, innovative, and exciting compositions that will unquestionably appeal to all those music enthusiasts who are looking for cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music. Lyrically and conceptually, this material is self-explanatory. It explores space and time, and their power to shape the universe and everything that surrounds us. Through their music, they cover various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances, making this material such a deeply resonant listening experience. Sonically, “Spacetime” dominatly explores psychedelic rock sound, as it carries the fundamental elements of this style, but it also goes beyond mere aesthetics of the genre by incorporating other complementary music genres, directions, techniques, and approaches. During these moments, their dedication to the craft truly shines because their compositions are packed with so many details, nuances, layers, elements, and hidden sonic surprises, ready to be revealed with each new listen. You’ll notice how they implemented some of the finest properties from krautrock, synth rock, art rock, alternative, stoner, indie, cinematic ambient, but do not be surprised if you stumble upon more along the way. Although their songs carry qualities that meet all the trends in modern music production, you’ll also notice a subtle touch of nostalgia, evoking eras of psychedelic rock music when this particular music genre ruled the airwaves. Still, these touches of nostalgia are subtle enough not the spoil their initial sonic direction. It’s such a pleasant listening experience packed with so many qualities, suitable for even those listeners stumbling upon psych-rock music for the first time.
As soon as you press play, you’ll hear that Purple Stone dedicated themselves to crafting luxuriant soundscapes that immediately invite you to join onto epic sonic voyage and never look back. It’s an amalgam of songs that wraps around your listening apparatus, grabs by the collar, and never lets go, proving that even contemporary psych-rock music can still sound addictive, hypnotic, and irresistible. Take “Come On Come On Come On” as a perfect example. Perhaps this introductory piece showcases what you might expect from the remainder of the material, but it also demonstrates Purple Stone’s tremendous creative genius. With all those subtly fuzzy guitar works, lush synth layers, intricate warm-sounding basslines, and profoundly detailed beats, it packs all the qualities you wanna hear in a modern psych-rock. But wait until you hear those soulful vocal harmonies; they’re undoubtedly stealing the show here. We already talked about “I’m The One” in our previous writings. It further expands Purple Stone sounds with even more thoughtfully arranged instrumentations, yet it certainly carries its own, distinctive ambiance worth checking out over and over again. Blending seventies synth sequences with commanding basslines is one of the Purple Stone’s strengths, and “Alright” proves how a rock-solid rhythm section and a couple of beautiful synth layers can do wonders. But the band has not forgotten the guitars. Quite the contrary, in this particular scenario, guitars accentuate carefully picked segments with catchy leads, themes, and other sonic maneuvers. Once again, the vocal harmonies decorate and elevate everything while the harmonious sing-alongs provide a more anthemic, hypnotic, meditative feel. “Get High” calms things down with its moderate pace, cinematic ambient pads, marvelous reverby guitar works, and soulful vocal lines. This particular composition carries almost bluesy, soulful, psych-rock vibes, and the band crafted a masterpiece that further showcases their dedication to the craft. “Moods” continues in nearly the same style, but it’s more focused on repetitive sonic and percussive sequences that create hypnotic, ethereal, otherworldly vibes. With tracks like “Adrift” and “Unidentified Flying Space Machine,” Purple Stone gets back to the primary sonic direction, delivering more vocal harmonies that serve as a centerpiece, jangly yet subtly distorted chord progressions, riffs, and other sonic delicacies. Beneath these vocals and guitars, there is a low-end undercurrent offering more heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding everything together. The beats remain steady, groovy, and dynamic, with all those detailed accentuations and subtle fills announcing each upcoming segment. The duo expertly crafts multilayered soundscapes, and “Late Night” is more than a rock-solid proof of how all those layers articulate together without overwhelming each other. In this track, the guitars play a significant role by emitting all those calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal themes, melodies, harmonies, chord progressions, and other sonic maneuvers. This epic sonic journey comes to an end with a title track, a fine piece of sonic artistry that pretty much sums up everything Purple Stone intended to achieve with this material while simultaneously inviting you to spin this wonderful album all over again.
https://youtu.be/BvkdwsHxE-Y?si=V0FfQ1Euhz3ZaXkf
If you are looking for a modern psychedelic rock album where each vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuver works harmoneously in building an addictive, hypnotic, irresistible, fascinating, and luxurious soundscape, “Spacetime” will be right up your alley. This album is a psych-rock masterpiece, thoughtfully written, composed, and recorded by two brilliant songwriters and musicians, whose tremendous experience, knowledge, talent, skills, and ideas shine from start to finish. You should immediately place “Spacetime” on your radar, because each song is packed with so many mesmerizing moments that will assure this is one of the finest albums you’ll hear in a while. Head to your favorite streaming platform and check it out.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1RCzin7My0zyFdaIvqFQPJ?si=_1a1wViwRby5BXGpJNiYMw
#ALTERNATIVE #AMBIENT #ARTROCK #CINEMATIC #INDIE #INDIEROCK #MUSIC #PSYCHROCK #PSYCHEDELICROCK #PURPLESTONE #REVIEWS #SYNTHROCK
Photo by Lindsay Melbourne
Photo courtesy of the band.