The Oxford music scene strikes again with a reaaaaaaally lovely slice of psychedelica. I was listening through some submissions recently, found myself enjoying this and took a closer look at the press release. A couple of familiar faces looked back at me and lo-and-behold, they’re an Oxford psych-collective. Of course. Monolith arrives, produced by Stereolab’s Andy Ramsay, alongside news of their debut EP Shake The Hand That Feeds You, due on June 18th via Nice Swan Records. It’s a 7-minute long rollercoaster of a tune, and it is glorious.
On the track, they share: “Monolith is one of our only songs with a more personal approach to the lyrics, broadly about coming of age. For us, the track represents a freedom from the restraints of childhood and simultaneously the anxiety of future independence – uncertainty is the price of being free.”
Mandrake Handshake is Row Janjuah (guitar, synth, bass, percussion), Trinity Oksana (vocals), Liv Duval (vocals), Elvis Thirlwell (tambourine, percussion), Erid Nishku (tambourine, percussion), Charlie Arrowsmith (guitar), Dany Jeffries (bass), Shan Sriharan (synth, organ), David Howard-Baker (fluter, saxophone) and Joe Bourdier (drums).