 New Zealand is developing a growing reputation for producing oddball psychedelic Indie musicians, with Connan Mockasin, The Phoenix Foundation and Lawrence Arabia releasing albums over the last year or so. Australia’s equivalent comes in the shape of Paul Housden. Having relocated to London and acquired a new band and an altogether more sophisticated sound along the way, Housden seems destined to follow in his Kiwi neighbours’ footsteps. As a member of disco funk outfit Foxx on Fire, his new project, Paul Housden and The Futurists, comes as somewhat of a surprise. They possess a very sixties style sound, listing among their influences groups like The Byrds, Pink Floyd and The Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek . If Foxx on Fire was the high from the night before, The Futurists are the inevitable comedown, a time for wide eyed reflection and idle fantasies. As their Myspace bio reads “The Futurists represent the musical meanderings and lyrical musings of Paul Housden”, and their songs do have a spontaneous, improvised vibe while retaining a surreal quality, as if inviting us into Housden’s subconscious. “Land of Flightless Clouds” draws you in with its gentle acoustics and spaced out groove while “Dance of The Drunken Magician” (or is that musician?) plays like a hypnotic fairground waltz, lulling you into a Pet Sounds re- imagining. There is a psychedelic Folk undercurrent here too, reminiscent of more modern groups like Apples in Stereo and The Olivia Tremor Control. The band’s new single “She’s The One”, released earlier this month, is a more structured piece of power-pop, complete with momentum building verses, a catchy sing along chorus and bursts of electric guitar. It does lose some of the band’s characteristic dream-like quality, but its accessibility makes it a punchy promo for the forthcoming album. It’s due out early next year and promises to be an engaging mix of dreamy sixties pop and spaced out Elephant 6 style folk, delivered through the burrows of Housden’s marvellously creative subconscious. For a group with such a retrospective sound, they have a remarkably bright future. |