The seventh studio album from Canadian multi-instrumentalists Mahogany Frog took six years to make, and it’s a doozy. The quartet—in addition to their individual instruments, each player is credited with “electronics”—plays what its label, MoonJune Records, calls “psychedelic space progressive fusion rock,” and the six tracks on the aptly titled In the Electric Universe deliver on that promise.
Opener “Theme from P.D.” is 14 minutes of intoxicating and at times claustrophobic rhythms and blips mingling with unexpected melodies. From there, the album unfolds with odd-titled songs such as “Floral Flotilla (Sail To Me My Love In Your…)” and “Psychic Police Force”—casting its hypnotic spell by relying heavily on extensive repetition, experimental loops and layering, and playful yet purposeful adventurousness. In short, Mahogany Frog has heard the future, and it sounds like this.
