Black Moth Super Rainbow : Soft New Magic Dream

Black Moth Super Rainbow has been making off-kilter electronic music for over 20 years now, with their debut dropping in 2003. For the uninitiated, imagine late 70s/early 80s electronic toys becoming sentient and forming a band. A Simon Says, Lite Brite, a clunky old Casio keyboard, and a random battery-powered lazer gun that buzzes indiscriminately. And the vocals are heavily-vocoder’d like some disembodied voice from another dimension. Trip hop for the apocalypse.

BMSR is the brainchild of Thomas Fec, also known as Tobacco. Fec releases music under the Tobacco name as well, and that’s a whole other outsider art can of worms. BMSR is his palatable musical outlet. It’s melodic, psychedelic, and will hit a lot of nostalgia buttons in the brains of folks that grew up in the early 80s.

Soft New Magic Dream is the 8th album from Black Moth Super Rainbow, and the first since 2018s Panic Blooms. It’s kind of a breath of fresh air in these current times of uber-produced records, Tik Tok stars, and bland pop hits. If ever there was a time for hazy electronic grooves and robot vocals, it’s now.

Imagine Massive Attack, Portishead, Boards of Canada, and some obscure German Moog music from the 70s being blended together with a healthy dose of chemistry thrown in for good measure and you’ll have an idea what you’re about to embark on. “Open The ******* Fantasy” opens in woozy synthesizers, slow motion drums, and vocoder vocals. It doesn’t matter if you understand the vocals, as it’s more like listening in on a conversation that’s spoken in another language, with cotton in your ears. Vibe is king, and there’s plenty to go around. “Demon’s Glue” has an almost early 80s R&B vibe, had the cassette tape been left on the car seat for the sun to warp it. “Brain Waster” is eerily happy sounding as chipper synth notes and background vocals coalesce in an ether-soaked good time.

I can hear touches of early Neon Indian and Yoshimi-era Lips all over this album and I’m here for it. Despite those sonic touchstones this is still a Black Moth Super Rainbow record through and through. The one-two punch of “Wet Spot Dare” and “Sea of Hair” leave you wanting to hit repeat and take the ride all over again.