When the average gap between albums for today’s bands seem to be at least three years, it’s always a pleasant surprise when a new album appears just a year after the last. Oxygen is the third in consecutive releases over three years by Curvey. Inspired by the acquisition and restoration of a 100 year-old harmonium, the former leader of Chicago’s The Luck Of Eden Hall hunkered down in his new Detroit-based home studio and spun some psych prog magic as Custard Flux.
Despite the fact that this project is mostly acoustic and also includes a harpischord, it isn’t at all a homage to old-timey pre-rock baroque folk. And while the psych prog roots can be traced to influences from the Canterbury scene among others (Fairfield Parlour, Trees, The Incredible String Band, Jethro Tull, The Pretty Things, Yes, Henry Cow), there is nothing retro about the lush sounds. It’s suspended in it’s own unique universe, despite references to earthly woes such as the pandemic (“Quarantyne” addresses it directly). The album was recorded at the start of the quarantine, but rather than sounding like a stripped-down bedroom project, it’s more fleshed out than ever with even more contributors. Oxygen sees the return of brothers Timothy and Walt Prettyman on double bass and violin, and also Vic Greco on guitars, and Mars Williams, who I saw perform a dozen times with Liquid Soul, and who now works with The Psychedelic Furs, on saxophone. Their parts were all contributed remotely, which is remarkable because it really sounds like a tight ensemble who have rehearsed together in the same room.
Like the previous Custard Flux albums, one could just luxuriate in the sounds and textures, but the songs themselves are well crafted, even with the sprawling 8:23 opener “Oxygen/Gelatinous Mass,” though it is less about hooks and chorus than a dynamic showcase for hypnotic, circular guitar riffs, a harpischord solo, and Williams bringing it home, blowing some soulful saxophone. “You Can’t Get Away” is more of a traditional sounding rocker, with a juicy bottom end that’s hard to believe it isn’t assisted by electricity, but rather some furious string plucking and bowing that evokes the ferocity of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Other standouts include the centerpiece trilogy of “Monster Island,” “I Feed The Fire,” and it’s seamless XTC Skylarking style transition to “She Opens Her Eyes.” The lovely “Innocence and Peppermints” is the most baroque sounding with the violin and, do I hear flutes? I don’t see flutes listed in the credits, can a harmonium do that? “Capacity Overload” features enough electric guitar that makes me doubt the 99% acoustic claim, but I’m not complaining. It’s a welcome component that adds just enough edge and tension to the album’s longest track and closer, not counting the two bonus tracks, and alternate version of “She Opens Her Eyes” and “I’m Feeling So Much Better.”
Custard Flux were originally set to play some live dates near me, but sadly that will probably be postponed until next year. Until then, we’ve got the spoils of the best sounding home studio spun cosmic carpet rides to enjoy in our own inner spaces.
