(Pod/Inertia)

First album proper from mellow UK psych duo

The London-based duo of Mo Morris and Zebden Jameson first entranced your reviewer with Collected Works, a gathering of EPs under the moniker A Mountain Of One – and a bewitching blend of psychedelia and progressive rock filtered through the smoothness of Avalon-era Roxy Music. Now comes their debut full-length recording, the mysteriously titled Institute Of Joy. Like the Collected Works CD, this album is sonically perfect; synths, guitars, gospel choirs and percussion flowing together like a soft breeze, complemented by haunted Ferry-esque lead vocals. Also like Collected Works, the average hipster may baulk at the album’s gleaming AOR production but, hey, that’s their loss. The Gilmour glide of guitars in the thoroughly Floydian mini-epic Lie Awake are a real treat, while the moody pianos, pattering bongos and elegant melancholia of Highs Of The Sun sum up what AMOO do best. The seven-minute instrumental Ahead Of The Curve, meanwhile, combines shimmering electronica with glossy Bowie grooves. Ultimately, the album triumphs by blending its smoothness with a meditative flow, the songs flickering in a forest of spooky chill-out and state-of-the-art psychedelia.

****˝  

MATT THROWER

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