Psychic has had very little publicity surrounding it beyond a listening party in Brooklyn, yet it's this lack of anything, no overt campaigns, no graffiti, no teasing a release every other hour, that's made real intrigue as to what this release will be like. Something that Daft Punk could definitely learn from; less is more. It's an ethos that bleeds into the album itself. Everything is a shadow of what you might expect, giving the entire album a dreamlike, otherworldly minimalism that feels not too far from a Haruki Murakami novel.
Opening track, 'Golden Arrow' is an 11 minute long summation of what Psychic is about. Beginning with static noises, clicks, and beeps before transforming into this space-age beast as Harrington's whirling riffs combine with the striding beats; the start of your journey. The pounding march of 'Heart', a catchy trip that feels as if Brian Eno's Apollo got infested with Pink Floyd prog guitar riffs, gives way to 'Paper Trails', the latest single from the album, with its dark and mysterious vocals, and echoing blues guitar that feels like an homage to Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Games'; extraordinarily simple but hauntingly beautiful in equal measure.
'The Only Shrine I've Seen' takes you to what could quite easily be a ritual involving the Cult of Prince. Otherwordly vocals mix with ritual clapping and the jangling of wind chimes before leading into disco inspired riffs and Prince esque falsettos, all driven along by a confident minimal bassline.
Album closer, 'Metatron', feels like awakening from the weird and jarring dream that is everything that preceded this track. Your mind is still a jumble; a mix of the sounds of your air conditioner, voices on the radio as you tune it to find a station and the general hustle and bustle outside until it finally clears as the sleek guitars and sultry bassline kick in to deliver you safely back to a world that almost makes sense, but with memories of this dream still present albeit a blur, a shadow of what just happened. Like 'Golden Arrow' it feels like a microcosm of the album but, instead of preparing you to dive in to the album, 'Metatron' makes you want to jump right back in to relive those memories all over again.
Psychic is an album that isn't trying to please anyone but itself and, to many, this could be an instant turn off. There is pretension dripping through it - a sort of "look at what we can do" feeling - but it's a pretension you want to get involved with and embrace. It's an album that sounds as though it was conceived by a bunch of mad scientists, pouring in a dash of blues, some jazz, and some special Jaar minimal formula, while ripping up conventions into as many pieces as it can before strutting away with such confidence and swagger that it's hard not admire this confusing yet infectious creature.
