Set to release on Valentine’s Day — and who says chunky-style instrumentalist heavy progressive psychedelic rock isn’t for lovers? — Les Efímeres is the third album from Barcelona cosmic twisters We Are Impala. The Jetglow Recordings outing runs a stately 48 minutes and takes the time it wants to take to say what it wants to say, offering variety and adventure, whimsy and wistfulness, hard crunch and pastoralia along the sometimes-angular-but-well-guided trajectory. It is something of a rollercoaster, but like a rollercoaster, the truth of the thing is the solidity of the tracks on which it’s running — ideally, and in this case.

And as “La Dansa de les Efímeres: Part 1” shows, it doesn’t always have to be one or the other, as the guitars of Xevi Strings and Albert Martínez-López weave through a kind of busy serenity, airy in the outreach of echo and weighted in the impact of Jon Ander Soto Corral‘s drumming and the low midsection fuzz of Mauro Pinto Risco‘s bass. If it were easy to pin down, it wouldn’t have the fluidity it does, but in an age where space metal and boogie shuffle don’t have to be mutually exclusive, they aren’t. “Contra la Tirania del Domèstic” (video premiering below) pulls together Earthless-style vitality and a drift that feels more of the Pelican/Russian Circles school and is informed by some regional influence, while the preceding 10-minute wailer “Cim i Tomba” comes on swinging and big in tone, a kind of urgent lurch setting the backdrop for a wah barrage. Yeah and that’s like in 40 seconds, so it’s quite the journey to be undertaken when you really go along with it.

That said, the central question with Les Efímeres doesn’t seem to me to be about how far out the band can go and still be able to keep a song together — “Cim i Tomba” has more sprawl in the ensuing 10 minutes than some careers can claim — but how far is the listener willing to go to meet them. This is where the quieter stretches like “El Vol” at the introduction or “A Flor d’Aigua” before “La Dansa de les Efímeres: Part 2” jams melancholy on the way to opening up a maw of fuzz that’s surely large enough swallow the album in its entirety but nonetheless and that maybe it does since the brief outro “El Dol” drops to minimal, almost new-agey drone, rising to a volume that’s still pretty low compared to, say, the shimmer, jangle and thrust of “La Sala dels Miralls” earlier on, but that is enough to give a sense of dynamic just the same, and it’s telling that even at We Are Impala‘s stillest, they retain some feeling of restlessness.

But restless doesn’t always mean chaotic. We Are Impala have enough control over what they show here to convey intention — that is, the songs don’t sound haphazard or lazy or unconsidered; the album was recorded live but it doesn’t feel made up on the spot in its entirety — but they’re not without their sense of challenge and they’re not dumbing down their exploration to capitulate to some imaginary-in-the-first-place notion of accessibility. Rather, the complexity of Les Efímeres‘ course front-to-back is one of the aspects most encouraging in terms of repeat listens as well — they’re not the first or by any means alone in the sphere of modern heavy prog-psych to deliver more to the active rather than casual listener — and though one might still come out the other end of the LP with questions like, “is that keyboard or guitar under the lead line late in ‘Contra la Tirania del Domèstic’ and what does it say about me that I’m asking?,” it is a healthy and refreshing plunge to take, cerebral but not at the expense of the passion that made them start playing in the first place. And tonally alive.

Album credits and more info follow beneath the embed below, courtesy of the PR wire, as well as live dates hoisted from socials.

Please enjoy:

We Are Impala, “Contra la Tirania del Domèstic” track premiere

Barcelona’s four piece We Are Impala are a whirlwind of fierce improvisers and odd-time signature players who love to explore new sonic structures. The ensemble blends the uncompromising heaviness of noise making with a distinctly savoir-faire rooted upon the Mediterranean way of living

Now with a freshly renewed formation and heading all the efforts into their third full-length assault Les Efímeres, a fractal dialogue between abrasive guitar outbursts and endless grooves within an ecstatic pace. This will be their third and most ambitious full-length up to date, running across 50 minutes long divided into 8 tracks.

The songs were boldly captured live and mixed by reputed catalan engineer Santi Garcia at Ultramarinos Costa Brava Studios, in the vibrant seaside town of Sant Feliu de Guíxols. Victor Garcia did an impeccable work mastering the album at Ultramarinos Mastering Barcelona and preserving all the natural chemistry, efficacy and dynamics of the original sessions.

The record will be released on all streaming platforms on 14th February 2025.

Limited 2xLP and CD releases through Jetglow Recordings.

Here’s the complete tracklist:

1. El Vol
2. Cim i Tomba
3. Contra la Tirania del Domèstic
4. La Sala dels Miralls
5. La Dansa de les Efímeres: Part I
6. A Flor d’Aigua
7. La Dansa de les Efímeres: Part II
8. El Dol

All songs written and performed by We Are Impala
Recorded live and mixed by Santi Garcia at Ultramarinos Costa Brava
Mastered by Victor Garcia at Ultramarinos Mastering Barcelona
Photography by Albert-Martínez-López
Artwork by We Are Impala

WE ARE IMPALA – LES EFÍMERES 2025
📍21.02. Madrid + Alber Jupiter | @elperroclubmad
📍22.02. Castelló + Alber Jupiter | @becausepopnroll
📍14.03. Barcelona + TBC | @salavol
📍29.03. Canet de Mar + TBC | Jardí de Villaflora

We Are Impala is:
Xevi Strings: Electric guitar
Jon Ander Soto Corral: Drums and percussions
Mauro Pinto Risco: Electric bass
Albert Martínez-López: Electric guitar

We Are Impala on Facebook

We Are Impala on Instagram

We Are Impala on Bandcamp

Jetglow Recordings on Facebook

Jetglow Recordings on Instagram

Jetglow Recordings website