Album Review/ Indie Rock : Calico Sun’s ‘Cosmic Revelations’

Calico Sun is a solo indie rock project by multi-instrumentalist and producer, Sam Bahman. The listening experience is marked by immersive basslines, luminous chords and travelling grooves. It’s the kind of sound that makes you feel and go deeper. ‘Cosmic Revelations’ is the latest album from Calico Sun. It is warm, beachy, and full of mellow psychedelics.

It has that strolling laziness and the expansive atmosphere of beach towns in the summer. Where there’s endless time and vast oceans. All you have on the agenda is to bask and be. This is the scene that the artist sets for the listener. 

The album begins with ‘Fields’. It has a rolling melody line, velvet and generous. With plush notes, swirling resonance and endless vocal horizons, you can really come alive in the song. Especially because the song comes alive in you. You can effortlessly visualise the flat and endless fields that make up the song, landscapes that feel both vacant yet vivid. 

There is a surreal space that exists in between these two quotients and that’s where the artist flies us to. It instantly takes you back to artists like Tame Impala and Glass Beams where individualistic creativity meets novel ideas and sonic concepts. 

‘Juniper’ and ‘Nebula’ are cut from the same contemplative cloth. However, they have more of an intentional funk built into them. The former especially is full of circular groove patterns that are softly hypnotic. They give new dimension to the straight vocal lines. The sonic metabolism is really slow in this track, almost to the point of dazing. The classic rock chords are like electric splashes within the soundscape. So artful and full of thoughtful energy. ‘Nebula’ on the other hand has a faster rhythm. There’s something so close to Daft Punk in this track. In its fantastical imagery, the wilfully detached yet suggestive nature of the vocals. There’s a psychedelic oasis somewhere within it that is so fun to go into. It’s starry, spacey and full of rocky action. 

‘Moons of Valeria’ is a really special track. With its winking retro blues and dreamy romanticism, the song opens up such beautiful spaces in the mind. It glides along, down a winding, melancholic road. So deliciously melodramatic, that you’ll want to burrow into and live in its worlds forever. The sights that you’ll see with this track are unforgettable. Creatively indulgent and full of possibility; this track. ‘Lazy Summer Haze’ is just as the title suggests. It’s a track that stretches on, keeps on going. You can plop yourself in it and get lost in its dazing rhythm and fresh highs. 

‘Cosmic Revelations’ and ‘Waiting’ conclude the album on a very reflective note. It’s consciously dilated to transport the listener out of their reality. All you have to do is close your eyes and you’ll be so far away from your world. The title track is especially notable. It quivers and comes alive with nostalgia. It’s solemn, sacred, and enchanting. From the get go. Dallying guitar acoustics are layered with spatial synths. With vocal chromatism, the artist takes you to a land far far away. It is haunting. It cuts you apart. The lush accordions meet slow classic rock chords and oozing blues. There’s nothing you can want for. It’s a world that forms like it’s alive, like an unforgettable dream. Listen Now! 

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The album is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music! 

You can listen to ‘Cosmic Revelations’ by Calico Sun here -

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