Following on from their incredible self-titled debut album and Astral Sabbat, Jess And The Ancient Ones have returned with their second full-length offering, Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes. Needless to say, if you liked their previous two releases, then you’ll love this – it somehow manages to blow them out of the water!
Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes is a hypnotic piece that really sucks you in as a listener, leaving you on the edge of your seat as you follow each twist and turn that is presented in the music. From the mesmerising vocals to the psychedelic keys and stunning instrumentation, it is a release that really stays with you.
This is perhaps best evidenced in the album’s closing track, the epic 22-minute Goodbye To Virgin Grounds Forever. Sometimes songs of such length can really work against a band but this isn’t the case with Jess And The Ancient Ones as it’s a captivating track from start to finish as it takes on many different styles, with thick instrumentation, soft acoustic moments, and vocal-driven sections before going full circle and ending how it began, with the same melodies and ideas that the track opened with.
Other album highlights include the impossibly catchy and striking opener Samhain, and later track Crossroad Lightning that features some spine-tinglingly vocals and a magnificent guitar line to accompany them, but it’s far too difficult to pinpoint just one song as standing out from the rest because firstly the songs are all so good, and secondly the album flow is so good that the songs blend seamlessly together – it feels more like one entity rather than several standalone tracks, which is great.
Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes is a truly great album, and Jess And The Ancient Ones have really delivered with this one. You don’t want to miss this album.
