Beautify Junkyards - The Invisible World Of Beautify Junkyards album review

Densely lysergic of texture and ethereally pagan, Lisbon’s Beautify Junkyards take late 60s UK acid folk as a launch pad. The band caress the swooping vocal interplay between keyboardist João Branco Kyron and Rita Vian with intricately shimmering backdrops forged around João Moreira’s rippling acoustic guitar, Sergue Ra’s bass, Antonio Watts’ percussion and Helena Espvall’s autumnal cello. There are sprinkles of Incredibles or Forest here, Principal Edwards or Trees there, certainly echoes of the ornate riverbank reflection garnished by Robert Kirby for Nick Drake. But something deeply special to Beautify Junkyard glows in their dense reverie, including their love of Brazilian Tropicalia that infuses their psychedelic cauldron and gives any Tyrannosaurus Rex-style woodland bongos exotic grounding. Technological evolution is one key element the band have over acid folk’s original pranksters, enabling them to lace Ghost Dance with Mellotron flute, bathe The Masque The Hidden Garden in Medieval tomb ambience and coat everything in synthesised luminescence and mystery. It all elevates their 21st-century psych folk to a magical higher level.