Helium by Custard Flux

He's only gone and done it again! Who? The Luck of Eden Hall's Gregory Curvey. Man, I swear, the guy's a creative Midas or something, all his offerings to date have been pure gold. Curvey's back with his latest project 'Custard Flux', a project born with the acquisition of a dilapidated 100 year old Harmonium. He restored the harmonium (music not being the only string to his creative bow), bringing the ailing instrument back to life, and going on to create the album 'Helium' around it. Helium by Custard Flux is another Curvey masterpiece, again as with The Luck of Eden Hall, he's forging pure aural bliss. From the opening track 'The Hit Parade', a jaunty number, the harmonium conjuring images of yore, dancing dandies and masked ladies, juxtaposed with a distinctly psychedelic dream pop flavour, you know you're in for a treat. And you're not wrong, the melodic adventure continues throughout this great album. Like a musical magpie with alchemical powers he gathers elements from the myriad corners of the progressive/psyche universes and creates something uniquely Curvey, it runs through his work like Brighton through rock. That distinctive Curvey vocal too, man, weaves lyrically through the album, like a tonal watermark. There's all sorts going on in this album, echoes of early 70's Canterbury on some tracks, like 'The Shire of Gingin', whose opening guitar put me in mind of bands like 'The Audience'. And, there are nods to those later grand mid 70's prog opuses too, in the depth and scale of sound Curvey constructs. Then he'll change tack, with a number like 'Tiger', with its jangly guitar reminiscent of that 80's psychedelic pop sound, or a burst of good solid psyche rock as on 'Forevermore'. So many interesting musical paths explored, so many wells sipped from, a musical tour de force served as only Curvey knows how. Filled to the brim with ideas, every track's a delight, which carry you dreamily along with a smile on your face...this is such a beautifully chilled out album, man. Custard Flux sits comfortably on a sumptuous chaise lounge of psychedelia, shining, propped up with plump prog cushions, and draped in a brightly coloured pop throw, one reverent eye on the past, the other gazing excitedly into the future. An example of contemporary psychedelia at its loveliest, and all performed on acoustic instruments, yeah I know, yet another layer of wonder. The title track 'Helium' happens to be the last track, an apt cherry for such a delightfully rich cake of an album. Man, it's a gorgeous sunset track of dreamy shoegaze/ psyche pop, which in the end softly dissipates like a vapour, album done. Perfect. From start to finish there's no filler, and throughout the album the reinvigorated harmonium adds all sorts of groovy dimensions to that already established Gregory Curvey sound. Curvey played all the instruments and wrote the whole thing too! A musical Madrox, if you will. You want my advice, push the pie to one side and fill up on custard, it's delicious and nutritious, open your ears and let Curvey feed you minds. I'm absolutely loving this Album. A digital version is available on bandcamp, with a vinyl release to come, and you'll have to get behind me in the queue for that. Buy this album!