Syd Arthur – Sound Mirror (2014)

Psychedelic rock quartet Syd Arthur released their new album Sound Mirror on April 22.
Hailed by MOJO as “Canterbury’s dazzling new sons,” Syd Arthur offer a strikingly fresh take on 21st century psychedelia, their exceptional approach born of prodigious musicianship, elemental songcraft, and an unabashed spirit of adventure.
Comprising Liam Magill (lead vocals, guitar), his brother Joel (bass, vocals), Raven Bush (violin, keyboards, mandolin), and Fred Rother (drums), the band first came together early in the new millennium, initially to perform at the outdoor gatherings presented by the brothers Magill in what Liam describes as “really interesting places” around their native Canterbury.Nourished by a steady diet of jazz and funk, folk and world music, the band explored the myriad possibilities of improvisation, impelling themselves and their one-of-a-kind vision towards heretofore-uncharted territory.

Dubbing themselves Syd Arthur – a name that conjures at minimum three of psychedelia’s most magical monikers – the band looked for new ways to move forward, educating themselves to recording’s vast possibilities by building their own Wicker Studios in 2009. Conveniently located on the edge of South East London, Wicker allowed Syd Arthur to assimilate the dark arts of production, engineering, and mixing, offering them innumerable new routes for their autonomous musical activity.