It’s not too difficult to imagine Temples emerging from their home studio with ‘Shelter Song‘ tucked carefully under their arms; the duo blinking as they clamber out from beneath mounds and mounds of vintage and analogue equipment, their pupils dilated as they stare in wonderment at the intensity of their brightly coloured surroundings. For Temples are psychedelic, man.
And ‘Shelter Song’ is no different; falling into the classic old-fashioned psychedelia genre, all narcotic guitar rushes, kaleidoscopic colours and existence-questioning inner space harmonies. It’s certainly an onslaught to the senses that apes certain mind and perception altering substances; such is the fluidity and malleability of the cacophonous melodies within the track.
Like Fleet Foxes and Tame Impala before them, Temples have no problem in looking backwards as they aim to move forwards. Whilst the Seattleites favour some Laurel Canyon inspired acoustic revelry, and the Aussies add a little prog rock to their psyche-gumbo, Temples adopt a Byrdsian outlook circa ‘Eight Miles High‘, even adding some twelve-string Rickenbacker firepower to wit.
Such blatant retro-fetishism can inspire derision in some quarters, consider the banality of the endless succession of post-Winehouse soul-lite artists (seriously, when will all that end?), but sometimes a song so strong surpasses such apprehensions and ‘Shelter Song’ is one of them.
Vocalist and guitarist James Bagshaw’s delivery is sweetly understated and effortless as he sums up Temples mission: “Take me away to the twilight zone”. Beneath this the thundering, towering drums are truly remarkable and reminiscent of producer Dave Fridmann’s cavernous sound on The Flaming Lips’ classic album ‘The Soft Bulletin‘. The drums on Shelter Song in particular are what modernises the track so as to not just simply recreate the sounds of the ‘60s.
What also works in Temples favour, is that there is nobody else out there right now influenced by the same bands as them, and therefore nobody is making music like this. It’s a breath of fresh air in amongst the hoards of bands that adopt peculiar accents and forego musical quality control for the sake of the latest ridiculous clothing. If anything, Shelter Song’s most recent comparisons can be made to the many scally bands of Liverpool, a city still very much in love with psychedelia.
With endorsements already raining in from such music industry heavyweight as Johnny Marr and Suede, it is quite possible that Temples could turn out to be the third act in a trilogy. The British arm on a line that stretches around the world from Seattle, to Perth and on to… erm, Kettering.
Temples’ debut may just cause a storm, be sure to take shelter.
