The mysterious and masked collective GOAT hails from a tiny and extremely remote Northern Swedish village of Korpilombolo, and if you’ve been frequenting this site for some time now. you’d know that over the past two years or so, the members of the mysterious Swedish collective have become both JOVM mainstays and an internationally recognize act, whose sound and aesthetic draws from their tiny village’s lengthy and unusual history prating voodoo. And during that two year period the band signed to renowned indie label Sub Pop Records, who released the act’s sophomore full-length effort, Commune and a couple of 7 inches to widespread critical acclaim internationally.
Now, earlier this year, I wrote about “I Sing In Silence” off the “I Sing In Silence”/”The Snake of Addis Ababa” 7 inch that Sub Pop released a few months ago. That single revealed that the mysterious Swedish collective was relentlessly and continually expanding upon and experimenting with their sound — going completely acoustic as a gorgeous and fluttering flute line is paired with a shuffling and elastic guitar line, gently propulsive drumming and chanted vocals in a song that sounded as though it were indebted to early prog rock — in particular think of Yes’ “Roundabout“– and psych rock as the song possessed a trippy, mind-altering vibe.
Building on the growing attention they’ve received internationally, GOAT will be releasing their highly-anticipated third, full-length effort Requiem on Friday. And from the album’s first single “Try My Robe,” the band continues on a similar path to the singles they’ve released earlier this year, as the song revealed an acoustic, psych folk sound that at times seems influenced by African and Middle Eastern music, which gives the song a mind-bending and mesmerizingly hypnotic quality. The album’s latest single “Union of Mind and Soul,” is based around a looping flute line, layers of jangling and propulsive bass and guitar chords, a buzzing and trippy guitar solo and howled lyrics focused on opening one’s mind towards greater understanding of themselves and the universe. And while sonically drawing from 60s folk and psych rock, the song may arguably be the most urgent and yet old-timey song they’ve released to date.
The recently released video is a fittingly psychedelic video that looks as though it could have been shot in the 1960s, thanks to the Instagram-like filters and the use of slow-motion and the use of rewound footage. And in some way, the video accurately captures small town Swedish life in all of its beauty, boredom and sameness.
