I don’t know what you say about Desertfest London beyond I wish I was going. That’s all I’ve got. It’s a beautiful thing the Desertscene crew put together for 2025. A thing to admire. Whether you look at it with Elder‘s ascent to headliner status alongside Zeal & Ardor and Earth, all representing an expanded-style mindset, or are stoked for the likes of Stoned Jesus, Lowrider, Maha Sohona (who told me on Facebook they have a new album completely done; sadly there was no follow-up with “…and here it is so you can hear it”), Josiah, Dopelord, Bobbie Dazzle and Slift, or if you’re just happy Elephant Tree are getting back out, or that 10,000 Years are getting a look, or Black Willows who are so fucking heavy, or maybe you’re me and you’re just happy for a couple killer American bands set to make the trip: Kind, Hippie Death Cult, Worshipper, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Castle Rat. I could go on here, but the point is there’s a lot to like. I won’t be there to see it, but knowing it’s a thing that’s happening on the same planet where I live is some comfort.

Oh, and yeah, like the headline says, day splits happened and Lowrider, Dopelord, Khan and a slew of others have joined the bill, which I guess is done now? We’ll see. Here’s what came down the PR wire:

DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCES DAY SPLITS, DAY TICKETS & 15 NEW ARTISTS FOR 2025

Friday 16th May – Sunday 18th May 2025

Weekend And Day Tickets on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk

Desertfest London have announced day-splits along with 15 more bands for 2025 in a line-up that promises to take its audience on a cosmic trip across the heavy realms this Spring in the heart of Camden Town.

The latest artists to join the 2025 fold include French celestial psych-metal trio Slift, seminal Swedish stoner rock trailblazers Lowrider, and Polish doom smokers Dopelord, making a long-awaited return to the Desertfest stage since their last appearance in 2018.

Elsewhere, Melbourne, Australia’s Khan will bring their hazy psychedelia back to the UK, while Norwegian quintet Dunbarrow have been summoned to bring their brand of proto-doom, played the old way, in a new age.

Desertfest 2025 welcomes its newest additions:
↠SLIFT
↠LOWRIDER
↠DOPELORD
↠KHAN
↠DUNBARROW
↠MAHA SOHONA
↠TORUS
↠WORSHIPPER
↠LONGHEADS
↠FROGLORD
↠DEVILLE
↠BLACK ELEPHANT
↠VERMINTHRONE
↠YETII
↠FREE RIDE

These latest additions join festival headliners Zeal & Ardor, returning to London to headline the Roundhouse after a triumphant sell-out of Shepherd’s Bush Empire on the heels of their critically acclaimed 2024 release ‘GREIF’.

Sunday sees Seattle drone legends Earth make their Desertfest debut, headlining the Electric Ballroom. This show marks their first appearance on UK soil in 6 years. Meanwhile, Friday headliners Elder will usher in the festival’s 13th edition with their progressive psychedelic sounds as they celebrate 10 years of ‘Lore’ at its rightful home on the Desertfest stage.

Desertfest 2025 Day Splits
FRIDAY 16TH MAY 2025
ELDER
STONED JESUS | LOWRIDER
THE DEVIL & THE ALMIGHTY BLUES | ELEPHANT TREE | HIPPIE DEATH CULT
SERVO | KIND | 10,000 YEARS | BLACK ELEPHANT | DEVILLE
VOLCANOVA | YETTI | ERRONAUT | FREE RIDE | DRESDEN WOLVES

SATURDAY 17TH MAY 2025
ZEAL & ARDOR
AMENRA | PALLBEARER | CONAN
PLANET OF ZEUS | AVON | SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI
MAHA SOHONA | SCOTT HEPPLE & THE SUN BAND | TORUS
GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE | JOSIAH
EL MOONO | FROGLORD | WORSHIPPER | LONGHEADS
BARBARIAN HERMIT | LUST RITUAL | WITCHORIOUS | VERMINTHRONE

SUNDAY 18TH MAY 2025
EARTH
SLIFT | CHÖD | DOPELORD
CASTLE RAT | KHAN | RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL | DUNBARROW
MR BISON | THE HAZYTONES | BOBBIE DAZZLE | BLACK WILLOWS
KING BOTFLY | SLUMP | THIS SUMMIT FEVER

Weekend and Day Tickets can be found at: www.desertfest.co.uk

Desertfest London ↠ 16th -18th May 2025
Camden Town, London

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Kind, Close Encounters (2023)

Madrid-based fuzzbenders Free Ride released their sophomore LP, Acido y Puto, on Aug. 9 through Small Stone Records. Led by the guitar work and songcraft of Borja Fresno Benítez — also vocals, percussion, production and the sitar near the start of the record in the mellow opening jam of “Space Nomad” — with Victor Bedmar on bass and Carlos Bedmar on drums, the trio offer Nebula-style heavy psychedelic rock on a per-slab basis, swaying into more tonal warmth around a desert-style foundation and, for the first half of the tracklisting, trading between longer and shorter songs.

“Outsider,” with a video premiering below that, yes, makes Alf a metaphor for feeling ‘other’ in life — perhaps this was true of the tv show as well; pardon me if I don’t do a rewatch — is more straight ahead and veers into a gruffer and more aggressive section of riffing and harder vocals, but that volatility becomes part of the appeal of the album as a whole, along with the variety that emerges between the psychedelic and the stoner rocking, “Kosmic Swell” picking up from the end of “Outsider” for three minutes of watery guitar jamming before the riff kicks in, riding that down a scorching desert highway to resolve in solo-on-solo layering and tumult before its own crashout brings the next song, next change.

Maybe it’s not that radical, but it is rad, and it heats up as it goes. I don’t know if tripping and fucking are themes in the lyrics as the title presents them, but fair enough. The way it works is each of the nine tracks — whether it’s the back and forth that culminates in centerpiece “Nazaré,” which follows the dreamy-start-into-fuzzy-roll pattern of “Space Nomad” and “Kosmic Swell” and is particularly smooth in the realization of that, or the crunch and wah in “Steamroller” and the succession that song starts. Running 53 minutes in linear formats — that’s your downloads and compact discs (the format of the future if the future is 1986, which it is) — the vinyl tumbles the tracklisting some, putting “Kosmic Swell” at the end of side A with “Nazaré” opening side B, which makes sense since “Space Nomad” still opens.

In either case, the flow is consistent and largely uninterrupted; you wouldn’t call Acido y Puto less hypnotic for putting the two longer songs next to each other. Sacrificed for time are “Joy” and “Living for Today” — am I crazy or is there a meta-statement being made there? — and those are worth hearing for the burner desert swagger of the former and the ease with which Benítez intertwines riffs and leads and the turn to acoustic-electric blend in “Living for Today,” underscoring the post-Eddie Glass vibe that pervades to various degrees throughout. Not that “Blackout” — the shortest song at 3:42 — doesn’t work as a closer in its catchy “fucked to the bone” pining for Sin City chorus and Echoplex-noise swirl before it ultimately blacks out, but it is a change in character that plays into the overall mood of the record, one to the other.

However you might hear it — the stream’s at the bottom of this post, down near the links, if you’re still reading — it’s to Free Ride‘s credit that the character is there at all to be changed. Whether one chooses to dwell in the quiet intro stretches of “Space Nomad,” “Kosmic Swell” and “Nazaré” or be duly bowled by the Fu Manchuey riffing of “Steamroller” and the initially-languid-later-guttural swagger of “Outsider,” Acido y Puto undersells its diversity of intention but encapsulates a cohesive interprettion of psych-leaning heavy rock and roll. It’s not without atmosphere or scope, but as each component song finds its own space within that, the front-to-back listening experience is bolstered by what in a less-envisioned setting might just feel incongruous. Outwardly, they’re keeping it simple — “What’s it about?” you might ask, and the name of the record would be the answer — but the way they build around a groove is endearing as much as familiar-in-part, and immersive in its unfolding regardless of format. Open your heart and let riffs in.

The aforementioned video for “Outsider” premieres below and is a good time. As always, I hope you enjoy:

Free Ride, “Outsider” video premiere

Born from the smoky depths of underground jam sessions in generator parties, Free Ride emerged from the haze with a thunderous blend of stoner rock, psychedelic grooves, and cosmic vibes. Formed in Madrid (Spain) by childhood friends Borja Fresno (vocals/guitar), Victor Bedmar (bass) and Carlos Bedmar (drums), the band came together in 2016 with a shared passion for heavy riffs and mind-expanding melodies.

For their second album, ‘Acido y puto’, the band sought to capture the raw energy that flourished within the confines of their humble rehearsal room. Armed with nothing but their instruments, a few microphones, and an insatiable desire to create, they set out to capture the essence of their sound in its purest form. Produced by Borja himself and mixed and mastered by Matt Dougherty in Chicago, IL, the band’s DIY ethos permeates every aspect of the recording process, from engineering their own sessions to experimenting with different mic placements and recording techniques.

‘Acido y Puto’ it’s a sonic exploration of the human psyche and the depths of the unknown. This album delves into the mysterious and often unsettling aspects of existence, inviting listeners to confront their fears and embrace the darkness within. Musically, is a sonic journey that defies categorization, blending elements of psychedelia, punk-rock or even surf-rock into a fascinating soundscape. The result is an album that shimmers with crude intensity and cosmic energy, where each track is a testament to the band’s unyielding dedication to their craft.

Tracklisting:
1. Space Nomad 8:34
2. Outsider 4:23
3. Kosmic Swell 9:34
4. Vice 3:50
5. Nazaré 9:30
6. Steamroller 4:32
7. Joy 4:31
8. Blackout 3:42
9. Living for Today 4:24

Vinyl Tracklisting:
Side A:
Space Nomad: 8:34
Outsider: 4:23
Kosmik swell: 9:34

Side B:
Nazaré: 9:30
Vice: 3:50
Steamroller: 4:32
Blackout: 3:42

All songs written by Borja Fresno Benítez.
Recorded in Madrid, Spain by Borja Fresno Benítez.
Produced by Borja Fresno Benítez.
Mixed and mastered by Matt Dougherty, Chicago, IL.
Vinyl mastering by Chris Goosman at Baseline Audio Labs, Ann Arbor, MI.
Artwork by Borja Fresno Benítez and Carlos Bedmar.

Video credits:
Written & directed by Free Ride
Actors in costume – Álvaro Valadés and Sara Hernández
Cameras & Gaffer – Carlos Paris and Mariana Aznar
Edit – Carlos Bedmar

Free Ride is:
Borja Fresno Benítez: vocals, guitars, synthesizer, percussion, sitar
Víctor Bedmar Lam: bass
Carlos Bedmar Lam: drums

Free Ride, Acido y Puto (2024)

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Small Stone Records website

If you only know Causa Sui through their latter day work in their Summer Sessions series (review here; discussed here), or on their 2016 and 2017 studio albums bringing together heavy psychedelic exploration with progressive krautrock/jazz fusion, Return to Sky (review here) and Vibraciones Doradas (review here), a revisit to 2007’s Free Ride is going to highlight just how different a band they’ve become in the ensuing 11 years. Out of print in its original edition as their first outing for Elektrohasch Schallplatten following their 2005 self-titled debut on Nasoni (some day that CD will be mine), Free Ride is given a new art treatment in 2018 to bring its original cover in line with the aesthetics of their imprint El Paraiso Records and is presented as a 71-minute 2LP remastered by the band’s own Jonas Munk that includes a side D comprised entirely of a 19-minute rendition of the song “El Paraiso” for which the label is named, recorded live at Roadburn 2007.

The inclusion of that signature piece has been listed as the definitive version, though it’s also appeared on the band’s live outings, 2014’s Live at Freak Valley (review here) and 2017’s Live in Copenhagen (review here), so indeed it’s a staple of their performances. And it’s not a minor inclusion here, even next to Free Ride closer “Newborn Road,” which consumes side C and is 15 minutes long, but it doesn’t necessarily define the vibe of the album itself. That work is done more by the way the album unfolds with the increasing immersion of its side A, with the acoustics of the opening title-track leading to the spacier push of “Lotus” and the fuzzy-crunch into spacious, Made in Japan-style buildup of “White Sun.” That song is a riot and has been for 11 years, but again, for those who’ve taken on Causa Sui really at any point since the release of 2013’s Euporie Tide (discussed here), Free Ride is going to be a surprise in its rock-based sound and even more for the inclusion of vocals.

Understand, it’s not a completely different sonic context, and with cuts like “White Sun,” side B leadoff “Passing Breeze” and “Newborn Road” ranging upwards and north of 10 minutes apiece — not to mention “El Paraiso” as a bonus track pushing the outing to eight songs in 71 minutes — the adventurousness of sound for which Causa Sui have become known is still visible in hindsight in this material. Even “Free Ride” and the easy-flowing “Flowers of Eventide” that caps side B with its acoustic guitars, flutes and tambourine speak to the open vibe with which the Copenhagen-based outfit were working at the time, but the presence of Kasper Markus on vocals as frontman along with Munk (who also recorded, mixed and mastered the album originally) on guitar, organ, electrics and vocals, bassist Jess Kahr, drummer/percussionist/cover artist Jakob Skøtt puts Free Ride roundly in the territory of heavy psychedelia. The classic boogie on “Lotus,” the atmospheric organ work on “White Sun,” the sweeping fuzz, drift and final culmination of “Newborn Road” all seem to commune with a heavy ’70s mindset, but at the same time it’s impossible to ignore the influence of what was then Europe’s burgeoning heavy psych scene, and I don’t think we’re meant to.

In the guitar tones, in Markus‘ vocal approach and in the propensity for fluid, well-directed jamming, Free Ride has always been a smooth fit in the Elektrohasch canon of the time, along with records by Colour Haze, Josiah and even The Kings of Frog Island, which isn’t to mention others like Sgt. Sunshine or fellow Danish groups Gas Giant and the more garage-minded Baby Woodrose. What distinguished Causa Sui then still distinguishes them now: their instrumental chemistry. Listening to the winding blast of fuzz in “El Paraiso” or the sheer forward movement of “Lotus” earlier in the record, the foundation of what the band has become in the years since is right there in the work of Kahr, Skøtt and Munk. They’d go on to develop it in various directions, of course, but there’s no taking away from the prowess or how well they work together on Free Ride, the live-sounding production of which is organic enough to transition easily into “El Paraiso” such that it feels more like the closing of a set than the end of an album.

And of course, underscoring the instrumentality of a reissue from a band who’d go on to work instrumentally is a good deal of historical lensing, but that’s not to take away from what Markus does on vocals either. He’s a significant contributor to the heavy psych feel of these tracks, whether it’s the echo stretching out to lead into the midsection jam of “White Sun” or his standing out front of the charge of the raucous fuzzer “Top of the Hill,” providing a human anchor to the frenetic momentum built as the track shifts into its second-half nod-out. Markus had appeared on the self-titled as well, and at the time it wasn’t known this would be his final studio offering with them so this isn’t like a guest dropping by the studio and, “Oh hey, while I’m here I’ll be the frontman.” He was a member of this band, and especially in that light, including the “El Paraiso” recording from Roadburn seems prudent, since it so excellently captures this form of Causa Sui on stage, which is clearly how they were meant to be experienced given the live feel of the recording itself.

But if Free Ride is arguing in favor of its listeners showing up to a Causa Sui gig, one can only count that point as having been made in the years since, given their position at the forefront of Europe’s heavy psychedelic underground, their fostering of acts through El Paraiso Records, Munk and Skøtt‘s solo work, etc. They are, in fact, relentlessly creative, and what this reissue does — aside from the simple fact of making the album available again; which is enough reason on its own for it to exist — is capture that creativity as it was just beginning to bloom. A year later, they’d start their Summer Sessions series and continue it through 2008-2009, and from there expand their sound immensely as their interests led them along various other directions for the Pewt’r Sessions, Euporie Tide and their work since. What Free Ride does, though, is present one of the two examples of the foundation from whence that expansion grew, and whether being viewed as a document of modern heavy psych in the making or just as a killer heavy rock record with immersive jams, natural tones and a soulful vocal and instrumental execution, there’s no question it stands up to the 11 years since it first arrived.

Causa Sui on Thee Facebooks

El Paraiso Records

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