Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Chosen Star Child's Confession

Colour Vinyl

Opening with Nightmarish Heavenly Labyrinth, things set off an unhurried pace that taps into everything its title hints at, though not always to the same degree. The nightmarish aspect is muted, the bubbling bass trills and Kawabata Makoto’s bristling guitar work at the song’s climax adding a splash of unease, but it’s hardly ‘bad trip’ territory. Instead, Leigh’s bright flute contributions take the listener on a twisting, crystalline journey that’s pleasant yet offers enough weird twists and turns that it primes you for the journey to come.

Diamond Eyes Are Hurt isn’t quite the curveball that it first seems. Acid Mothers Temple are no strangers to taking things slow, and a certain chilled demeanour is to be expected with a sizeable amount of their output, but the fact that this is full-on lounge jazz, all breathy sweet nothings and cosmic saxophone accompaniment, makes it something of an outlier. Everything about it is effortlessly cool, and even when more established tropes kick in, they fit neatly with the new ambience, Higashi Hiroshi’s familiar whooshes and blips not detracting from the groove, but instead tying it neatly to their past.

Genre: Space Rock / Psychedelic / Freak Out