As any seasoned psychonaut will attest, no maps exist for the journey to the centre of the mind. While there may be an idea of direction and the sensations that await, no two experiences are ever the same.
So it goes with Doperider, the third album from psychedelia’s most unlikely supergroup, The Utopia Strong. Comprising third-eye man-about-town Kavus Torabi (Gong, Cardiacs), Michael J York (Coil, Current 93, The Witching Tale), and six-time snooker world champion Steve Davis.
The trio’s latest work is given a further sense incongruence when, of all people, this former master of the baize reasons that if their audience “choose the psychonaut road, then we are delighted to have been of service.” It’s certainly a different approach to altered states than Davis’ former rival Jimmy White once favoured.
Doperider is a wonderfully immersive aural journey, pushing the trio into bold, uncharted territories. Inspired partly by writer and illustrator Paul Kirchner’s eponymous antihero, and Davis’ growing affinity for abstract electronica and musique concrète – as well as his increasing dexterity with modular synths – the album moves away from the Krautrock influences of yore.
Instead it sees The Utopia Strong reposition themselves a little further to the east to align with the expansive sensibilities of contemporary Polish cosmic collectives such as Alameda 5 and Innercity Ensemble.
To label the music contained within these seven tracks as ‘soundscapes’ is to do the album a grave disservice. These are instrumental suites that unfurl like banners in the wind – constantly shifting and evolving with each listen.
On Moths Of The British Isles, the twisting bleeps and pulses slowly yet incrementally morph into sweeping keys – so subtly that the transformation is felt before it’s consciously noticed.
Prophecy begins in randomness before winding its way into crunching, urgent textures – possibly a bass guitar – eventually giving way to the desert rhythms of North Africa. Meanwhile, on Harpies, Katharine Blake of Mediæval Bæbes’ voice is manipulated and twisted to eerie, delicate effect.
Devoid of any obvious hooks to hang a hat on, Doperider is best experienced in a single, uninterrupted sitting for its gems to shine through. It doesn’t just begin and end; it unfolds, then folds in on itself, and reconfigures with every subsequent play.
Just as familiarity seems to creep in, something new takes its place. It requires time, patience, and deep listening. But for those willing to dive in, the journey is rich with reward.
Doperider is on sale now via Rocket Recordings.
