Extravagant and bohemianthe Lewes Psychedelic Festival is one of the most interesting events for fans of psychedelic music naïve and magical, a gathering that offers a picture of that scene underground far from the clamor of the revival of strong psychedelic rock.
The festival takes place in an old church donated to the municipality of Lewes, transformed into a community, arts and youth centre. In this mystical and ethereal atmosphere, David Bramwell and his band, Odfellow's Casino, performed with the intention of creating their first live album after over twenty years of career. A perfect setting for a band that has made sobriety its stylistic signature, it is therefore not surprising that theirs live act has been highlighted by critics as one of the highlights of the 2023 edition of the festival.
The publication of “The Lewes Psych Fest Sessions” offers the opportunity to fully appreciate the already well-known qualities of Bramwell and his associates' music. The spectacular mix of male and female voices, the riot of folk-psych scenarios to the sound of flutes, drums, violins and mellotron is a real delight, the progressive attitudes and the lyrics rich in literary references offer further charm to a set that will surprise even the group's fans.
In these cases it is useless to mention any of the songs, the whole set is an enchanting and dreamlike journey into an ascetic and spiritual world, which musically does not disdain the contamination of electronics and also overcomes one of the most arduous challenges, namely inserting an instrument like the trumpet in a less than adequate context, yet another demonstration of the qualities of Oddfellow's Casino.
09/11/2024
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
