Austin, Texas-based instrumental psych outfit Sungod has an extraordinary full-length album entitled Wave Refraction coming out on Aug. 24. Today, Vehlinggo premieres the album’s hypnotic title cut.
Sungod, which consists of Braden Balentine, Michael C. Sharp, Kristine Reaume, Nick Lombard and Alex Hughes, is a band that has figured out a way to create contemporary and original work from a variety of psychedelic rock and kosmische influences, such as Pink Floyd, Sun Ra, and Tangerine Dream. It’s a blending of the intergalactic sensibilities of the 1960s and ’70s with a powerful tension between organic and electronic instrumentation — the record rocks out as much as it offers up beautiful moments of arp-driven transcendence. On the title cut specifically, Sungod has built an enchanting composition that invokes heavily the spirit of the latter.
The foundation of “Wave Refraction” is a continuous and entrancing arp run, over which synth strings, an actual flute and a mystical and searching lead electric guitar refract before crashing into each other with serene, wave-like certainty. The ending offers a bit of a surprise. It’s nine minutes of bliss.
Wave Refraction will be available Aug. 24 via Holodeck Records in digital, cassette, and vinyl formats.
