TuNesday: In The Electric Universe

Mahogany Frog’s New Album is in a Universe of its Own

Album Name: In The Electric Universe
Band: Mahogany Frog
Release Date: March 16, 2021
Genre: Experimental / Prog Rock / Psych

Listen Now

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Christy’s Thoughts

If someone threw a Mahogany Frog-themed party it would be a black light-drenched, anachronistic spectacle of hippies, mullets and spaceships fit for Nuit Blanche – and their new record ‘In The Electric Universe’ is worth celebrating in such a way, if we could. It’s rich with layers of psychedelia, rock and fusion that intermingle to expand the sonic landscape Mahogany Frog has been building for years. 

Quirky titles like “Psychic Police Force” and “Floral Flotilla” give us a brief snapshot of what we can picture when we dive in, but these electrosymphonic suites fuel your imagination to wander so much farther and wider than that. “Psychic Police Force” features guitarmonies, heavy rock drumming and warping organ hits that bang so hard you wish Psychic Police Force was a real TV show. And as vast as sweeping as these tunes are, you can lose yourself in fine knob-turning details like the rotaries of that same organ percussively sputtering in and out of time. 

It’s easy for a group with such a specific sound to come off as cosmically one-note. But what is lasting about them is that they’ve handcrafted such a varied toolbox of sounds that they can stretch their legs, and still sound on-brand with the WCMA winning (SENNA won Instrumental Album of the Year, 2013) and Juno nominated (same category, 2014) band we know and love. 

At the tail end of “Octavio: Including the Ascension of the Moonrise Children,” we’re still living in Mahogany Frog’s spacey vintage future – but with flutish melodies and a distant marching drum, it’s more like watching some pagan cult ritual on a static-charged VHS tape. An unexpected turn that is consistently celestial but from an earthier perspective. “Sundog” seems to be similarly nature-inspired, with upright sounding bass, perhaps guiding us through a vast windswept prairie tundra of haunting synths and jingle bells.

For all the active imagineers out there I sincerely recommend Mahogany Frog’s “In The Electric Universe.” Allow yourself the freedom within your humdrum routine to be transported somewhere wild and weird by some of our favourite local talents.

Do you have an album you think more people just NEED to hear? Email your Tunesday Album Recommendation to christy@thewpg.ca and get more ears on the music you love!