HEADROOM

— First review of this album —

Over the last decade, the band 'Headroom', from Connecticut, has released only 2 full length album. Their music has been placed under the psychedelic/space rock genre for a good reason. The music is experimental, spacey and full of those retro psychedelic sounds which they base their music on, also attempting to expand the boundaries into new territory. The band was founded by guitarist and lead vocalist Kryssi Battaline, who uses other musicians in her lineup to create the music she loves to explore. Released in February of 2019, the EP 'New Heaven' is the album being reviewed here. It is made up of 3 tracks and totals just about 23 minutes.

The title track 'New Heaven' is the first track, and it immediately starts out in a trance-like psychedelic atmosphere with squealing guitars, echoing and atmospheric, processed vocals, a moderate beat from a drum, and a droning organ. Guitar effects and improvisation that play along the edge of controlled feedback lift the track to more intensity as it continues. 'City Lights' is much more peaceful in the beginning with soft vocals with a bit of an echo and gently strummed guitars with a slower beat. Along with the peacefulness, the guitar gets pushed at times as if it is being tortured to squeal out a lovely melody, even if it is against the wishes of the instrument. It is quite a nice touch how the psychedelic guitar is used to create a melody.

The last track 'Skyliner' takes up most of the time here at + 11 minutes. It starts with a groove generated by the bass and percussion. Strummed, jangly guitar chords and keyboard effects keep things pushing forward as we move and build into a space jam. Intensity builds as the guitar builds a wall of sound with layers of sustained music. Vocals processed with effects don't start until the 5 minute mark and they are mostly just a part of the sound wall than they are a main feature. After the vocal section, the instruments are just left to continue improvising the spacey jam with a lot of effects going off.

The EP is a good one, but it is short. The most innovative part of the EP is in the 2nd track with the use of ripping a melody from the lead guitar that would rather meander, but it makes for a more innovative sound for the psychedelic genre. Other than this, it is a decent EP and gives the listener an idea of what stretching the borders of a classic genre could sound like.