Flamingods’ synth-infused Head of Pomegranate captures the ups of idealistic solitude and downs of messy capitalistic excess. It’s a high energy voyage, the London-based quartet bringing you to the brink of hallucination whilst keeping themselves grounded. Fuzzy at their edges, the guitars and synths tag team from track to track, both getting their time in the limelight, but it’s all well-paced – the album doesn’t get too carried away on its trippy adventure. Longest track ‘Perfumed Garden’ justifies its seven-and-a-half minute runtime and turns from a whimsical reflection about absence to a meditation on life’s cyclical nature.
The album really opens up when the psychedelia takes a back seat. ‘Born Lucky’ and ‘Tall Glass’ borrow more of a rock sensibility. The wooziness of the other foggily laidback tracks lifts for a couple of minutes; a state of clear-mindedness taking over. The tabla drum and pungi woodwind sounds included on ‘Born Lucky’ evoke The Beatles’ Ravi Shankar-inspired fusions; a groovy lead guitar on ‘Tall Glass’ makes the track infectious and once you make it to the bridge, you can feel the various heritages of the band members – they formed in Bahrain – melding together. Borrowing from South Asian, North African, Middle Eastern and British traditions, the rock they’re producing is fun, unpredictable and slick. All these cooks only add to the pot rather than spoiling the broth of eclecticism.
