The Zephyr Bones - Neon Body (2021)

The Barcelona-based psych-rock quartet, The Zephyr Bones have released their second album, Neon Body via La Castanya. The album was produced by Brian Silva and Santi Garcia, and sees the band exploring ideas centered around love, self-affirmation, loss, and hope. Musically, it finds the group tapping into their “beach wave” sound.

Shimmering electrics start with first track ‘So High’. The softly sung vocals and the summery music vibes that you can’t help but be entranced by. Its a track that introduces the band well as it shows off their impeccable guitar work. Which is never showy but subtle and really brings these tracks alive.

Second track is no exception with the bright snappy guitar riff and some great thick 80s sounding bass. Verneda Lights dazzles with a nifty guitar solo and its upbeat disco vibe. A vibe this album buzzes with. ‘No One’ is the same with gorgeous vocals and a fucky bass solo. Along with the subtle yet excellent guitar the band do a great job interweaving the various instruments as they go from bass to acoustic/electric solos to keyboard solo all with a couple of blasts from some horns.

‘Afterglow’ keeps the 80’s vibe going with a slick theme on the guitar that pops up throughout the track. Theres a hint of Al Stewart’s ‘Year Of The Cat’ in the cool guitar work and vocals. The vocals turn whispery on ‘Sparks’ with a light floating feeling with the pulsating rhythms from the synths. Half way through and you should be in love with this band after the first five tracks. ‘Neon Eyes’ will cement that with its fancy riffing and an upbeat dance feel that goes all spacey when the vocals kick in.

With an intro the sounds like a TV theme ‘Plastic Freedom’ is as infectious as this album gets with a chord heavy rhythm, the track goes a jazzy with a synth and guitar interlude. The band have arranged this album as each song melds into the next with out any repetition or an album of the same song repeated. Plastic Freedom slowly fades out in the bouncy ‘Rocksteady’ that emerges from funky drums and will have you grooving and singing the chorus all day.

‘Velvet’ brings a serious mellow with the synths and superb bass lines. A dreamy smooth piece where the synths rule from creating a beautiful mixture of light melodies with deeper bass notes. ‘Celeste V’ shines with the excellent guitar work. The jangly riffs and solid bass backed up by the floating synths as they guys take the song off on some musical journey is something I could listen to forever. You never know where the guys are going with each song. Its a joy to listen to the music unfold.

The whole album just shimmers with positivity and a good time vibe. There’s isn’t a simple track here as each one twists and morphs emerging different each time after the interludes and solos taking the tracks off on a musical journey. The musicianship is note perfect and Brian Silva and Santi Garcia have captured the band perfectly to showcase their ever evolving creations and by doing that have created one of the best albums of the year.