Words by Tim Hakki @TimHakki
Three years after the release of Tame Impala’s seismic Lonerism and we’re still feeling the ripples of it. While that album spawned a legion of overrated and faceless copycats (as with any great record), its influence has also given birth to some important and joyous music. Enter Kevin Parker's latest student, Fascinator, the project of an Aussie called Johnny Mackay, previously frontman of Children Collide. As Lord Fascinator his music takes on a fractal and luscious technicolour aspect. Washes of synth recall Lonerism cuts like ‘Endors Toi’, but there’s much more to it than straight-up homaging. The arpeggios are baroque in the truest sense of the word – think Henry Purcell. Eventually the song arranges itself spaciously around a groovy looped bassline which provides a springboard for more playful baroque pastiching, this time in the form of horns, before Mackay sings the repeated refrain "the traveller knows all". With music as straight-up instant and heady as this, it’s hard to doubt his omniscience.
The Traveller is out now