London’s Desert Clouds release their third album, Planexit (review here), on March 25 via Mandrone Records. It’s a banger, opening with an immediate grunge-informed take on heavy psychedelic rock, spacious and resonant and occasionally jammed out, but still ultimately grounded in craft. Songs like “Mamarse” and “Revolutionary Lies” and post-intro “Willow” evoke the mid-’90s melding of grunge and the stoner punk finding its shape in the Californian desert, as closer and lead single “Speed of Shadow” (premiering below) branches outward into pastoral melody as the start of the go-big build serving as the apex of the record.

Giving away the ending — spoiler alert — would seem to be an odd choice, but Planexit is way more about getting there than where it ends up. Smoothly executing across 45 minutes and nine songs, the band demonstrates a reach in terms of style, but more over, there’s a cohesion to their approach that ties the songs together and speaks to the studio experience they’ve gleaned together over the years since their 2015 debut, The Floating Oar, and subsequent short offerings — one them being the 2018 single “Speed of Light,” to which “Speed of Shadow” is an apparent companion piece. Nifty bit of trivia for those of you playing along at home.

It’s probably not an actual influence — London has plenty of psych, grunge, heavy, and other rocks from which to find inspiration — but I’m reminded in listening to Planexit of Salt Lake City, Utah’s Iota in how they brought together varying sides of West Coast US impulses and formed something of their own from them. Desert Clouds appear to be aiming for similar ground, and Planexit gets them there.

Enjoy “Speed of Shadow” on the player below, followed by more from the band:

Desert Clouds on “Speed of Shadow”:

“Speed of Shadow”- lead single of the album – shows how a nameless man realizes that the environment, the planet and any circumstance cannot be the issue until you’re part of them. He understands that running away from anything doesn’t have any effect if you don’t escape yourself first.

Heavy psychedelic rockers DESERT CLOUDS are pleased to announce that they will release their album Planexit via Mandrone Records on March 25 2022.

The band comments:

“This new album is a journey throughout the inner side of the human being, represented by a nameless man who is trying to escape the surrounding environment that overwhelms him.”

Venture on a thrilling voyage with Planexit. Melodic riffs and hard hitting rhythms fuel the powerful impact of the music. DESERT CLOUDS’ experimental sound produces colourful musicality enhanced with a heavy intensity.

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Mandrone Records website

Tags: Desert Clouds, Desert Clouds Planexit, London, Mandrone Records, Planexit, UK

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2022 at 6:05 am and is filed under audiObelisk, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.