I always thought it was a tragedy of the music industry that Cat Steven’s genius ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ was never expanded into a full-length song, as it’s very hard to immerse yourself in the emotion of a song that’s shorter than a Cash for Gold ad. Neon Indian’s re-released Psychic Chasms has three sub-minute tracks, and despite the hype that’s surrounded the Denton-based electro-pop artist, I have no pressing desire to hear extended versions of these fleeting musical offerings. ‘(If Knew, I’d Tell You)’ is a pleasant, wistful looped synth melody layered over a flowing rhythm line, but it’s quickly forgotten; as for ‘7000 (Reprise)’, I’d only ever tolerate its high-pitched repetitiveness if I was disappearing down a green tunnel to meet Luigi and collect some golden coins.
The full-length songs are more successful, like the title track – a cousin of Adebisi Shank’s ‘(-_-)’. ‘Deadbeat Summer’ is the obvious single, a catchy and blissfully lazy nostalgic offering.
But despite the hype surrounding Neon Indian’s chillwave, hypnagogic pop, glo-fi, 8-bit, ADD, KFC and other oh-so-hip invented phrases for oh-so-hip people to talk about any new sonic music, it’s essentially just nice background music. But if an oh-so-hip supermarket is looking for some inoffensive, short tracks for the clientele buying kitchen towels, Psychic Chasms fills the void.
Key Track: ‘Deadbeat Summer’