Ruaraidh Sanachan and Andreas Johnsson are a Scottish psyche duo who brought an explosive freeform psychedelia to Glasgow’s live scene. They release a new album `Dancing In The Dark` this month which shares ten tales of hope and betrayal, magic and madness, love, and death.
The album opens with `Jack Of Diamonds` who is often known as the curious messenger. The symbol of knowledge and wisdom matches with a wanderlust to explore and adventure. The sign of someone who knows what is expected of them but doesn’t necessarily feel like they have to play by the rulebook of others. It has intricate chords and a retro progressive rock texture but with a lightness of touch, a story that ultimately has a tragic ending. There was a more of a complex doom come psychedelic feel about `In The Woods (The Drifter)` which becomes fairly mesmerising at times with the repeated line of “In the woods” becoming almost manta like as the track fades.
`The Dance` has a more sixties West coast ambience with a tapped tambourine and tender harmonic vocals leading us through a tale of possible night time ceremonies or rituals that seem to be forgotten when dawn arrives. I thought `Take Me With You` was a bit of a curve ball which had a more jazz tinged rock mood about it and became quite trippy with organ solos, guitar cuts and lyrics that seem to allude to the joining together of a couple of protagonists on a shared but unspecified journey.
`Sanctuary Stone` has a delightful folk like aura with an engaging vocal from Hanna Tuulikki enticing us to visit a sacred shrine, monument, or monolith where the Devil may be heard by pressing your ear to the ground. There`s a sense of foreboding lying within `A Call In The Dark` where the threat is hinted at while mirrored by the musical accompaniment and almost chanted lyrical content.
`The Toll` is a really moody slow burn of a number relating a tale of a levy or tax having been paid and the anguish and despair both physical and mental endured by the client afterwards, which ends ironically with a bell tolling. We return to a much faster paced psyche trip with the alluring `From The Bough` which has number of musical excursions as it progresses .
`The Raven’s Eye` is a wonderfully hypnotic folk-tinged composition. The raven is a symbol of mystery, magic, and secrets as well as wisdom, prophecy, and insight but on the flip side it`s also associated with darkness, death, and ill omen. I`ll leave you to decide what it signifies here. The release closes out on `Catch The Wild` which is the longest track on the album but has a delightful spellbinding charm as it meanders it`s pathway and ends with what sounds like a clarinet.
`Dancing In The Dark` has a kind of irresistible attraction which I found really fascinating at times. I won`t pretend that I understood all the nuances and shades shared in the lyrical content but found them poetically appealingly and was totally absorbed in the musical content.
Another band that has a back catalogue that I’ll be now familiarising myself with.
Rating 8.5 /10
