Following on from Horse Dance, their debut album released a mere year ago, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation have hit back with their sophomore, Mirage. The Swedish krautrock group have cast a cult like armor around themselves. They are as enigmatic as their label mates and fellow Swedes, Goat, and produce hedonistic rhythms that lie beneath a plethora of colorful grooves – something that is a staple point of Rocket Recordings’ sound. Psych rock comes in waves, often it takes a real commitment to the genre and scraping away the mollusc-like pretenders to find the gems. Rocket Recordings are one of the few labels doing just that and are championing the genre. Gems exist here such as the aforementioned Goat, as well as Gnod, Lay Llamas and White Hills. Ultimately, it was no surprise that Mirage was going to be the dirge of glittering glory that it is.

Lauren Laverne has pinned their recent single, ‘Rushing Through My Mind’ to her 6Music show for the past however many weeks. Bolstering groove in the bass pushes the rhythm hard from the start before glimmering synths erupt above as The Liberation pinch from the best parts of Neu! As the song progresses, guitars delve into the psychedelic soup, formulating a sound that wouldn’t feel out of place on Tame Impala’s Lonerism. Fortunately, ‘Rushing Through My Mind’ doesn’t stand as the only good song on Mirage, instead acting as an indication for how far the group have come since their debut.

The album, which is described as being “the state where dreams, visions and the present are entwined” is a juxtaposition of moods, at times joyful and at others desolate and sparse. ’The State I’m In’ opens the album and points to the likes of Moon Duo, Wooden Shjips and Les Big Byrd for inspiration. It rushes at you with tides of guitar before Josefin mumbles the repetitive vocal of “the state I’m in” – it’s an accidental ear worm, nestling itself within your mind without you really realising until you’re lying fixated at the ceiling at 4am singing it over and over.

‘Sister Green Eyes’ nestles in the darker side of the album. It certainly slows affairs from the opener but with its particular desolate sound, the instruments are allowed to experiment more adding the essence of Eastern influences in the sound. ‘In Madrid’ opens as if it is a cut off from Kasabian’s debut album – acid-house electronics lead the mix before Josefin describes the setting she sees in Madrid. Its eeriness is fascinating; bass thickens out the sound from the motorik rhythm and as you hit the tail end of the track the bass varies between riffs leading for something that is as dynamic as it is muscular.

A Place To Bury Strangers and My Bloody Valentine are always renowned for their penchant for high volume but I imagine Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation would give them a run for their money. The wall of sound that opens ‘Endless Ocean’ is mammoth. ‘Looking For You’ continues the theme, diving in and out of lamenting guitar sounds – the song articulates how the group have become such sturdy writers over the past year or so. Dynamism is key to their sound and fortunately, they tailor the songs perfectly to the notion.

The more experimental temperament to the album is evidenced with ‘Circular Motion’, a song that picks at the flesh of Berlin’s electronic house scene – its gloom is hidden behind enigmatic drones and beats. ‘Where I’m Going’ is an optimistic contrast to ‘Circular Motion’, it carries a happy-go-lucky feel pointing to the likes of The Jefferson Airplane. A more traditional blues style outlines the track, stripping back the complexities that outline much of Mirage, it has a proper chorus and typical chord progression.

For a band that have written much of the album on the road, Mirage surprisingly finds a completeness to it that Horse Dance missed. The group’s hypnotic jams feel slightly more focused and although they are evidently the brainchildren of free flowing experimentation, they have the appearance of fully-formed songs. They support Goat on their upcoming UK tour, giving arguably more reason to be excited for them than the headliners.
Tom Churchill

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