Beyond-o-Matic have been a going concern, on and off, for almost two decades now, its members veritable veterans of the modern US psych/space rock scene. It’s nine years since any new material emerged, but it’s been worth the wait.
With backing tracks edited from two days of improvisation, and additional instrumental overdubs and vocals added in the months after, the band has delivered a substantial musical statement. Never rushed or over-played, their music is a neat amalgam of late 60s psychedelia with downbeat early 70s space-rock and wistful prog jams akin to Floyd at Pompeii.
Yet, with its focused, sympathetic production, it all sounds strangely current. Much here is dreamy, jangly and astounding, but the real triumph here, elevating it beyond mere noodling, are the vocals. Peter Fuhry shapes and enhances the music with his ethereal, layered voice, combining the melodious tones of a Neal Morse with the upper range of Prince or Mika.
The results are often sublime – Wish is hypnotic and extraordinary, and Turn, Switch, Trust is a slow and sacred, near trance-like hymn. Exquisite psych-prog for the masses.
