YAY!

Another year, another Motorpsycho release. Due to me reviewing this band's past discography up until this point, I feel like I am a bit indebted to them. That being said, they have not stopped with their cunning ideals of creating interesting prog rock music, though they took a back seat with the more illustrious heavy jams that we saw on their last 3 albums of this decade, and into a bit of a different direction.

Yay! is an album that is a direct 180 from the heaviness of their former albums, being a lot less proggy in its image, and to more of a psych folk/pop direction, whilst still holding true to those Motorpsycho quirks we all know and love.

Now, not many people, especially prog fans might like this direction, but for me I actually am quite thrilled for what they put on display. I feel like you can get away with very proggy jams and displays for a while, but soon it does get tiring having to hear a long 20 minute song over and over again, so I actually really appreciate Motorpsycho for changing things up and going in a different direction.

For the sound itself, it is actually a really top tier display of psychedelia folk and pop for me, going for these moody melodies that feel very sweet to the ears. I love how it all drips with this chilled out reflection and attitude, as if the band, in a more metaphysical context, decided to wind down for the night and relax with some hot chocolate whilst watching a movie. I love Motorpsycho for their frantic and fast jams, do not get me wrong, but I also think that taking a focus to more melodic and slower stuff actually works really well in their favor. I mean, look at tracks like Patterns and Real Again, with those beautiful melodies and picturesque vibes. Most of the songs here definitely set a new standard for this psych sound, and one that I really appreciate going forward.

However, this album does have a problem and that is the fact I do not really think the last three tracks work all that well. I think Hotel Daedalus, while a really good track, simply does not fit the album at all, in fact it sounds something off of the Gullvåg trilogy more than anything. As for Scaredcrow, I feel like that song should've stayed off the record. It is virtually nothing. Lastly, The Rapture, is a good song but I am not fond of the weird reverb it has with the mixing, and I feel like the guitar solo near past the halfway point just doesn't quite work out too well. Now, again, these songs (besides Scaredcrow) aren't bad, but I think they do not quite work to the album's credits. Definitely not the worst tracks to cap this album off, but they feel pretty out of place in regards to the rest of the record.

I can tell this album might not be the most popular, as Motorpsycho fans more likely will prefer the huge jams they come up with, but I do not think it'll be hated to no end. I say check it out, I really like it, and who knows it might be your thing too, and it might mark a completely new era for the band, one that explores more of the psychedelic headspace then what was found in the past 2 decades.