Connan Mockasin’s tantalising brand of psychedelic pop music is characterised by its oddly seductive form: the sounds of a high-pitched, playful, near-impish voice, the lyrically obscurity and the happy-high acid trip instrumentals creating warped lullabies of sorts. Forever Dolphin Love and Caramel Special Edition is a re-release of Mockasin’s past two albums, serving as an adequate access point for new fans but offering little outside of that.
The clever use of flanged guitar effortlessly brushes over ‘70s prog-rock bass hooks as each song, drawn out and unfolding slowly, provides a minimalistic aesthetic that isn’t afraid to let silence do the talking for the music. This generates a certain delicate element of spaciousness which Connan Mockasin has only half mastered, as the Caramel side of the release relies too heavily on this empty space with noticeable seconds of frustrating silence detracting from the music. The five-part song, Move Your Body, is especially guilty of this as it takes excruciatingly long to evolve into anything of substance. It’s far too boring to warrant the ridiculous move of allowing the fragments of the song to take up half of the album’s track list.
The Forever Dolphin Love side of the release is when Mockasin shines, as a more humble balance between the psychedelic riffs and spacious song structure results in a brighter and simply more enjoyable album. The instruments are more involved, songs blend together much more fluidly and clever techniques such as an African folk bark, haunting off-tune plucking and droning synths keep the music lively throughout its otherwise dreamy form.
The unfortunate issue of Forever Dolphin Love and Caramel Special Edition is that the Caramel side of the release somewhat drags down the sum of its parts, while Forever Dolphin Love stands out as an involved and cleverly made piece of music psych-pop – well worth the listen for any avid or curious music lover.
BY THOMAS BRAND
