(2021) Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou


Review:
Vanishing Twin are one of the better acts to emerge from the ironically dull psychedelic revival of the last decade-and-a-half. The brainchild of singer and guitarist Cathy Lucas, on their two albums to date, the London-based group have taken a more refined approach to the well-trodden ground of psych-pop than many of their peers. Their new album, Ookii Gekkou (Japanese for ‘big moonlight’) is nothing different. Over nine tracks the group tell stories from a lockdown-inspired world “where it’s always night”, reaching for a broad array of musical traditions – from afro-funk to cosmic jazz – to bolster their familiar grooves. Things start fairly traditionally, however, with opener ‘Big Moonlight (Ookii Gekkou)’ and ‘Phase One Million’, the latter of which recalls fellow psych merchants Khruangbin’s vaguely international approach to songwriting. From there though, Vanishing Twin start to flex some more avant-garde muscle: ‘The Organism’ sounds like the score to an enjoyably cryptic ’60s art film, while ‘In Cucina’ is layered with polyrhythmic percussion and warped synths. As the album enters its final third things switch up again, with almost an almost krautrock sense of pace underpinning ‘Tub Erupt’ while closing track ‘The Lift’ brings the album to a groove-heavy, synth-laden conclusion.





Track Listing:
1.Big Moonlight (Ookii Gekkou) 04:50
2.Phase One Million 05:27
3.Zuum 05:38
4.The Organism 04:36
5.In Cucina 05:33
6.Wider Than Itself 05:11
7.Light Vessel 03:41
8.Tub Erupt 02:52
9.The Lift 03:10


Media Report:
Genre: indie-pop, psychedelic rock
Country: UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits