Over the last couple of years, the masked and mysterious collective of GOAT have become blogosphere darlings, as well as JOVM mainstays for an aesthetic and sound that draws from their tiny Northern Swedish village of Korpilombolo’s unique and lengthy history of practicing voodoo, a tradition that according to old Swedish legend can be traced back almost unabated several centuries. The collective signed to renowned indie label Sub Pop Records, who released the act’s sophomore full-length effort Commune, the “It’s Time For Fun”/”Relax” 7 inch, which was written in their native Sweden but side A recorded in NYC and side B recorded in South America, as well as the “I Sing In Silence”/”The Snake of Addis Ababa” 7 inch. And from each of those releases, the band revealed that they were restlessly expanding and experimenting with their sound, with each release sounding completely different from its predecessor; however, with several of this year’s releases the band’s sound has shifted to a prog rock-leaning, psych rock that nods at the likes of Yes, complete with a mind-altering sensibility.
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months you’d likely know that the mysterious Northern Swedish collective’s highly-anticipated, third, full-length effort Requiem is slated for an October 7, 2016 release and the album’s “Try My Robe” continues on a similar vein as “I Sing in Silence,” as the collective has gone for a stripped down, acoustic, psych rock vibe paired with chanted/shouted vocals, shimmering and dexterously looping guitar work, mischievously complex, handclap led percussion and a slow, shuffling bass line that manages to be deceptively propulsive in a song that sounds subtly influenced by African and Middle Eastern music. Requiem‘s latest single “Alarms” is a gorgeous track consisting of African and Middle Eastern-like percussion, shimmering and gorgeous guitar lines and an ethereal melody that floats just above the instrumentation. Sonically, the song manages to sound both incredibly cinematic and as though it could have been released in 1966.