If the weather forecast is to be believed, we’re in for some more sweet, glorious rain this week. As of the writing of this post, a thick, soupy fog hangs outside like a wet towel. It’s perfect weather to swaddle up in good ol’ fashioned psychedelia–especially good ol’ fashioned English psychedelia–the kind that London quartet Younghusband do quite well.
Younghusband began, as many bands of the psych-rock variety do these days, as a bedroom project. Bandleader Euan Hinshelwood wrote and recorded a couple of EPs and a single by himself before gathering up the other members to shake out the tunes live. Joining Hinshelwood (who takes on vocals, guitar, and keys) are guitarist Adam Beach, bassist Joe Chilton, and drummer Pete Baker.
In September, Younghusband released Dromes, their debut full-length. The record opens with the swirling, aptly-titled “Running Water,” a slow-builder song with words that echo in rounds. The record closes in similar fashion with the album’s star-gazing title track. Eschewing the traditional verse-chorus-verse structure, “Dromes” winds up tight and packs a punch. The song grows in aggression as all the elements build around it–like far-out echoes, feedback and Hinshelwood’s gentle, reverberating vocals. They let the steam out a little bit in short bursts of jagged, furious guitar stabs placed throughout. It’s a song that burns bright, but eventually it collapses in grand fashion, leaving a wake of star dust and sonic detritus thick as London fog.
