THAT'S LIFE

One of the newer bands actually keeping the English Canterbury Scene side of jazz-rock alive and well. The Tokyo based DE LORIANS are proving how diverse Japan really is in how it has virtually adopted every style of Western musical expression and made it its own. This band formed in 2016 and stunned the prog world with its amazingly adept self-titled debut album in 2019 which displayed a tripped out psychedelic jazz-fusion in the style of classic Canterbury Scene prog from the golden years of prog's earliest years.

Well the band hasn't delivered a sophomore followup yet but in the calendar year 2022 at the 11th hour before one year cedes to the next, DE LORIANS has offered a taste of what's to come with a short 21-minute EP titled THAT'S LIFE but to be fair the band's debut was quite short clocking in at a mere 32 minutes so one could probably think of this as 2/3 of an album. While the debut's tracks were actually quite short with the majority of tracks five minutes or under, THAT'S LIFE features three tracks all over five minutes with the opener "Shin-Shin" over nine.

"Shin-Shin" opens with bizarre psychedelia with no traces of Canterbury sounds or jazz at all for that matter. The majority of the sound exists in the realms of progressive psychedelic space rock and it immediately makes you wonder if the band has jettisoned the jazz-rock sensibilities of the debut altogether but as the track slowly morphs into heavier rock eventually the jazzy hints of the past reveal themselves. This opener is quite different than anything the band has tackled so far and perhaps a glimpse of a more ethereal even surreal path DE LORIANS could embark upon in the future.

The second track "Robita" puts all that wonder to rest and features a bonafide no nonsense jazz-fusion workout in full Canterbury regalia. In fact it's so authentically Canterbury that it sounds as if it were mined from the English countryside circa 1975. The Hawkwind-ish psychedelic electronic sweeps are a nice touch to keep the psych flowing around the jazz. It may also be the least original but a nice break between two tracks that deliver heavy on the psychedelia.

"Space Rakugo" as you can decipher is very my a space rock track. Opening with heavy synth droning and dialogue in the Japanese language it soon becomes apparent that it's actually no opening at all but the entire track of just over 5 minutes however the synth parts slowly oscillate while the percussion becomes more agitated. The dialogue stops and the synth sounds emulate a siren while sparkly electronic sounds flutter about in the background. This track is dripping in lysergia and the trippiest thing the band has done. No traces of jazz here at all.

Overall this is a brilliant if not essential release. It's more like a sampler than an album experience but this little EP is already fetching premium prices due to its instant obscurity. Not a release i would shell out a lot of cash for but it certainly was a worthy listening experience that hopefully showcases tracks that will be placed on a full album in a better context. Overall i'm impressed with this Japanese band and their skillful blending of space rock, psychedelic electronica and Canterbury jazz.