SHIMMER INTO NATURE

It appears the Ozrics are on hiatus. He didn't say Ozrics are done for good, but just giving them a rest. Maybe we'll see a new Ozric release a few years down the road. Or not. (Update: the Ozric hiatus didn't last seeing that a new Ozric release Space for the Earth is on the way). He has since returned to the UK, this time in Fife, in Scotland. I remembered Ed and Brandi losing their home in the 2012 Colorado wildfires that also claimed a lot of their memorabilia. He decided to return to the UK because he was sick and tired of those Rocky Mountain winters. I'm not 100% clear on Ed's relation with Brandi but they've been clearly separated for some time (probably around the time of Technicians of the Sacred). I do know that Brandi had remained in the States and Ed returned to the UK. But even before the move, he started working on a solo album, which he continued right to his move to Scotland, and that's Shimmer into Nature. As a solo act, he could have done anything that may be out of the question on an Ozric release, instead he sticks very close to the Ozric template. Unlike an Ozric release, this is really an Ed solo album, but he does get some small participation with the likes of Tom Brooks (early Ozric member), Silas Neptune (his son), Paul Hankin (early Ozric member who reappeared on Technicians of the Sacred) and others. There is no band interaction, so that's the major difference between this and an Ozric release; however, this album only demonstrated how crucial Ed was for that Ozric sound. Plenty of Ozric familiarity to be found here: lots of his usual great guitar playing, spacy synths, frequently with a techno feel. In fact it's really hard to distinguish this from an Ozric release, which can be a complaint, but hey, if you love that sound and can't get enough, this album is completely up your alley. I also dig the artwork, really psychedelic, reminds me a bit of Blim, although the artwork is done by a guy named John Hurford, who's specialty is nature-oriented psychedelic artwork, so I imagine the Shimmer into Nature album title would be in honor of Mr. Hurford himself. This album is just amazing and fits nicely with your Ozric collection. Any fan of Ozric Tentacles need to own this.

The somewhat disappointing news - multi-instrumentalist Ed Wynne's 2019 debut solo album `Shimmer into Nature' (Coolest. Title. EVER!) kind of just sounds like most Ozric Tentacles albums. But the good news - it sounds just like most Ozric Tentacles albums! In other words, while it may not really hold too many surprises, it still offers a series of cool spacerock/psych instrumentals that are full of colour, and that dart in multiple directions at all times. It's instantly identifiable as Ed's musical personality, and tasty contributions from a couple of Ozrics-related associates help give the album a vibrancy that some of the later programming-heavy band albums missed out on.

Opener `Glass Staircase' sets much of a template for the LP, a slice of chilled electronica with stuttering programmed beats and gurgling synth spirals that are constantly met by Ed's alternatingly ragged, jangling and fiery electric guitar runs. The thickly buoyant live bass on this one gives the track a real kick, and the brief ambient passages reveal the most fleeting hints of Manuel Göttsching's Ashra.

`Travel Dust's placid reggae flavours weave between dreamily trilling synths, spirited acoustic strums and ethnic-infused percussion, and `Oddplonk' is all phasing electronics and slinking grooves around permeating eastern atmospheres. The flip-side's `Shim' is further electric guitar-fuelled electronica, but it's the ten-minute `Wherble' that makes for a closing farewell of everything the album does well. Blissful and joyful, a mellow reprising fanfare glides unhurriedly before breaking into a skittering electronic breakdown with wild guitar tantrums and even the lightest of bluesy smoulders.

Running a lean single vinyl-length forty-two minutes ensures `Shimmer...' is easy to replay, and it definitely lacks the bloat that plagued several of the last few Ozric Tentacles albums. With that group currently M.I.A, only time will tell if the band name is permanently laid to rest or not, but if so, on the strength of this debut, Ed's `Shimmer into Nature' promises to still carry on in their technicolour psychedelic tradition, as well as being a focused and punchy psych-electronic disc ideal for the Ozrics faithful and even curious newcomers all its own.

Four stars.