“Psychic Tears“, the new album from Brooklyn artist Sam Kogon, does more in its opening one minute and forty-five seconds than most albums you’ll happen upon this year. Said track, the warped instrumental paves the way for the rest of his brilliant new record, instantly setting the tone for all that follows, framing the record with a psychedelic swirl of colours and patterns, dragging you deep inside Sam Kogon’s world before you’re even had a chance to examine your surroundings.
Describing the record as a “painstakingly detailed work of modern-retro guitar pop” barely even scratches the surface of what’s found within, and, indeed, it’s often difficult to acutely described what’s going, given the dizzying effect that a number of these tracks induce. There are Beatles comparisons that will inevitably crop up, and lines can certainly be drawn towards the work of The Shins and others of such ilk, however “Psychic Tears” is delivered with such adulterated passion.
An altogether complete work, the tracks here veer between effervescent baroque styled pop and the more withdrawn moments; a sugar-sweet, heartfelt duet with Frankie Cosmos providing one of the album’s more restrained moments and sits as one of its most endearing numbers. Elsewhere, on tracks such as “I’m Letting Go” and “The Way To Talk To Boys”, the whole thing leaps with such abandon.
A sublime patchwork of influence, “Psychic Tears” is a dynamic and exquisitely-produced trip through Kogon’s soulful, endlessly inventive mind – and it might well provide one of 2016’s most bold excursions. The whole thing is released via Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 