Psychedelia. That word alone should be more than enough to grasp the attention of many, but while the lands of psychedelia has a population that is growing by the week, next level talent isn’t easy to come by. But, when massive talent does come along it is all but a true task to disregard it in any form. When I first heard the lead single off of Holy Monitor’s brand new effort of “Southern Lights”, I couldn’t help but feel we were in for something special with the absolute entirety of the record backing that up minute for minute.

While we’re not talking about the peaks of what the style can accomplish here like what The Re-Stoned brought forth with “Stories of the Astral Lizard”, there is no way to argue that what Holy Monitor is performing here can be considered anything less than exemplary by all accounts with their overwhelming talent being the first of many strong flavors that we get as we pass into the realm of “Southern Lights”. Nothing too crazy is going on here with Holy Monitor very much at home with their sound that isn’t as forward with its fuzz or even aggressive in its riffs as they take the route of slow and methodic when it comes to their sound as it may not be overtly catchy right out of the gate, each song on “Southern Lights” absolutely has its own personality that are capable of planting the first points of intoxication into your mind right out of the gate. It’s the sort of slow burn that many of us live for as it’s downright the perfect material to just fall right back into on any occasion whether you’re coming off a long work week or simply want to let waves of psychedelia wash over, and it’s in any such scenario that Holy Monitor has crafted something particularly exceptional with “Southern Lights”.

Peak material requires all but the most deserving of praises with fitting attention, and I cannot think of how else you could improve upon this creation with how well it is crafted in its entirety and every note playing off the last before flowing beautifully into the next. Should there be any singular work of psychedelic rock to come out in the first three months of 2021, I would be incredibly bewildered to find many work, if any, that top what “Southern Lights” has accomplished with Holy Monitor by all means becoming a fiery contender in their style.

LISTEN to “Southern Light” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Holy Monitor on Facebook here.