Going through my original notes for the Gypsum debut and I likened listening through the record to recent experiences with the Lauren Lakis album as well as a feel of early dredg. Which is true to an extent but the record is also an all around head trip, filled with a wondrously whimsical tone and a kind of wizardry in regards to the songwriting strength and sonic world building.
“Follow Me” confirms that with these expansive guitar lines swirling around a defining bass hum as lush vocals add to the complexity and give the track a haunting air. “Lungs” is weird and wonderful and almost psychedelic, drifting in and out of a dream state, while “Gull Lake” leans into a darker tone with the way the vocal delivery shimmers and shines and hovers hypnoticically.
“Give It’ is an intricate iridescent journey made all the more compelling by the drumming complexity on display from Jessica Reed and the way the conjured sounds mesh with the contradictory rhythmic patterns laid out by Sapphire Jewell and Anna Arboles with some overall nods to Foals. On the softer side, “Snow White” is something of a somber hymnal with Jewell and Arboles sharing a symbiotic bond in terms of the vocal performance (With Reed also providing backing vox) which is more intertwined than interchangeable and inextricably linked throughout Gypsum.
“Grafting” is another quiet, wistful track that serves as a subtle precursor for the massive “Kaleidoscope” that follows with a lovely bravado bringing the ruckus within an equally massive chorus. “Satisfied” is a little more straightforward with a jazzy feel in the way that Reed’s drumming shuffles alongside Arboles and Jewell’s loose guitar refrains and then “Margaret” flips the script by channeling Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon with the poetic way the vocals are delivered. “Disappear” closes the curtain on the first full-length from Gypsum with a full-fledged aural odyssey of everything that the trio has perfected over the preceding nine tracks.
Gypsum is out today via Sonic Ritual. You can get your now by heading here or clicking on the Bandcamp stream below. For the latest on Gypsum, follow their socials by heading here, here, or here.