SLIFT‘s newest album, Fantasia, might be their most accessible to date. The songs are shorter, but no less heavy. The theme of the album is one of perseverance in hard times, and the power of the record helps you believe that you (and the world in general) can get through this mess and create something far better than what we’ve been conditioned to believe is normal.
The nearly nine-minute title track (which might be considered short for a SLIFT song) opens the record with Jean Fossat‘s voice and guitar crying for “a fire in your soul” and to put down the burdens we carry. The song floats into otherworldly bliss and then bursts back into gravity-breaking riffs almost without warning. “Corrupted Sky” shines with keyboards and thrilling guitars.
“The Village” has Fossat being shunned and shamed (“They call me a traitor…They say I poisoned the water.”) as he tries to tell the residents of a fantastical land that they’re being duped by shadowy figures who could be toppled if they’d just pay attention and speak up. Rémi Fossat‘s bass groove on “A Storm of Wings” is funky, taking the track into almost a psych-soul freak-out. If you want to get obscure, “Orbis Tertius” takes its title from a Jorge Luis Borges story from 1940 about how reality is only as real as our minds make it. It’s perfect material for a SLIFT track, really. “Waiting Man” is described in the album’s press release as a mix of Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. That’s accurate, especially the Pink Floyd part. It sounds a bit like something from a Roger Waters dream.
Canek Flores‘ beats on “The Day of Execution” often sound like he’s playing multiple time signatures with four arms. I don’t know how he does it. Heck, I don’t know how any of them do it. The closer, “Secret Mirror,” starts out with hopeful synths and a slick bass walk before it explodes with enough raw power to fuel a Star Destroyer.
It’s another stunning record from them, and one that has a message we all need: Don’t let the bastards get you down. Keep striving. The light is there. We’ll reach it.
Keep your mind open.
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