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LP
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BTR 085LP
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The cosmic force that is Brighton's Wax Machine return with The Sky Unfurls, The Dance Goes On, a new album of lush, ambient and psych-toned folk that expands and unfurls across nine blissed out tracks, with Brazilian-born, Italian/English-raised Lau Ro continuing their personal journey with psychedelics and recently found obsession with water that has been heightened by a long overdue trip to Brazil. Teaming up once more with the London based, globally-looking imprint Batov Records, Wax Machine journey beyond the psych-folk universe, tapping into more ambient, classical, and world-folk sounds. Led by songwriter and singer Lau Ro, the recording sessions for The Sky Unfurls, The Dance Goes On gave space to the musicians involved to express themselves, in part searching for the sense of freedom and organic looseness found on the records of Alabaster Deplume and Don Cherry. Recorded in their own studio, Lau Ro was joined by Ozzy Moysey, Adam Campbell, Isobel Jones, and Toma Sapir, with Marwyn Grace and Ella Russell involved for the choir parts. However Wax Machine very much remains a personal journey for Lau Ro, a vehicle for them, as their music always has been, to explore and connect with themselves and the outside world, as they continue to do so on The Sky Unfurls; The Dance Goes On.
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LP
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BTR 062LP
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Surfing on a sun-drenched wave of psychedelia comes Brighton's very own Merry Pranksters, Wax Machine. Primarily recorded and mixed in a closet room directly above a mortuary, their self-produced album Hermit's Groove is a heady trip through progressive psychedelia, kitsch Italian library music, and Brazilian Tropicalia. Wax Machine is the project of Brazilian-born, Italian/English-raised Lau Ro, who takes a deep dive into their Brazilian heritage on this LP, taking inspiration from '60s Tropicalia music and movement and the likes of Os Mutantes, Caetano Veloso, and Gal Costa. "Brazil is where I was born and grew up until I was 8 years old, and it'swhere my family is from. We then immigrated to Europe and I was never able to visit Brazil after that as it's a very expensive flight. Instead I'veopted for the next best thing which is connecting with the spirit and culture of Brazil via the medium of music." The album features a version of "Canto De Lemanja" from Vinicius DeMoraes and Baden Powell's seminal 1966 Brazilian album Os Afrosambas. "Canto De Lemanja" is about the Goddess of the sea, Lemanja, a chant Lau has often found themselves singing to the sea in their hometown of Brighton. The first single and album opener, "Guardians of Eden", is carried in on a cloud of flutes and birdsong. The first half celebrates the light and beauty of this world, while the second half is a reflection on the shadow of our existence here. The three-minute, psychedelic explosion of "Springtime" is a "meditation on the cycles of nature, the dance of duality, the swinging of the cosmic pendulum." Two EPs in 2018 preceded their debut album Earthsong of Silence in2020, with Clash Magazine declaring that Wax Machine "occupy a space somewhere in the gaps where English psych-folk, sun drenched West Coast sounds, Brazilian Tropicália and spiritual jazz overlap." That year they also had a track featured on the Mr. Bongo Record Club compilation. For fans of: Babe Rainbow, Kikagaku Moyo, Vanishing Twin.
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