Please allow Lamp of the Universe a tidy five minutes to upend nearly everything we’ve learned about the band in its 20-plus years of existence. The one-man outfit conceived and steered in its entirety by Craig Williamson has never sounded more like a full group of musicians than it does on the new single “Descendants,” playing a heavy psychedelic rock and roll that’s even got backing vocals layered in! Is Williamson even alone here? I don’t know, but the sound of “Descendants” is far enough even from where he was on “Return as Light,” which premiered here in June, that it’s striking. That song had drums, had a rocking groove, but was still vocally in line with Lamp of the Universe‘s well established acid folk leanings. “Descendants” had me revisiting Arc of Ascent‘s 2017 LP, Realms of the Metaphysical (review here) and Datura‘s Visions for the Celestial (discussed here) to get a comparison point for Williamson‘s work in those groups.

“Descendants” isn’t quite as thick in its fuzz as Arc of Ascent on their last record or Datura in 1999, but it’s not far off from either of them. The organ work in “Descendants” is a further distinguishing factor, but there’s not a doubt in my mind that this is the most full-band that Lamp of the Universe has ever come across on a track, and after more than two decades, it’s exciting to hear Williamson push the project two new places and meld together different facets and outlets of his songwriting. It helps that the track is awesome — that always helps — but for an outfit as criminally undervalued as Lamp of the Universe are, maybe something uptempo like this engages listeners in a way that more folkish material couldn’t.

As noted last time, there’s an album coming eventually — and let me just say outright that if Williamson wants to premiere a video in this space every month or two until that full record has been revealed, I’m here for it — and it may well be that he pulls out the sitar drones and mellow vibes on other tracks. We don’t yet have the complete picture. But that’s exciting too, and an advantage that issuing one song at a time gives Lamp of the Universe in allowing the audience to become familiar with the sonic turns being made in installments, to appreciate what’s on offer, while at the same time building the context for the whole over a period longer than it takes to listen through.

Dive in right here, and please enjoy:

Lamp of the Universe, “Descendants” official video premiere

Single from New Zealand’s Acid Rock, Psych group LAMP OF THE UNIVERSE.

P & C Astral projection 2021

Lamp of the Universe on Facebook

Lamp of the Universe on Bandcamp

Projection Records on Bandcamp