Duncan Park - Psychedelic Potato

With his first demo album, Psychedelic Potato, Duncan Park has unleashed his talents upon the world with a great deal of skill and confidence.

Psychedelic Potato doesn’t sound or feel like a demo; the lo-fi aesthetic fits perfectly with the style of music Park is looking to create. While all of the songs share a common bond, each retains its unique identity through clever changes in pacing, mood and atmosphere. All of the songs contain acoustic instrumentation along with other embellishments such as djembe, pennywhistle and harmonica, and generally fall into two categories: faster, quirkier numbers like the opener “I Wanna Be On My Back All Day” and “County Charango Groove” and slower, more circumspect tunes like “Night Out” and “Of the Grasslands”. These are alternated accordingly, giving the album plenty of room to breathe and never leaving it feeling uninspired.

The aforementioned “I Wanna Be On My Back All Day” kicks things off by establishing a lovely little groove and sounding kind of like a parallel-universe jam session between Songs from the Wood-era Jethro Tull, Elliott Smith (Park’s hushed vocal style is what mostly invites this comparison) and your present day South African hipster. It gets proceedings underway with just the right amount of flair and attitude and sets the tone for the rest of the album. This is continued into the politically charged “Going to a Hanging”, albeit with a little more restraint.

Speaking of the vocals, Park never stretches himself but this generally suits the tone of the music – laid back, chilled out bliss. This is particularly apparent during the slower numbers, starting with “Night Out”, which lays down a comfortable rhythm and is characterised by a memorable chorus perfect for late afternoon drives across the countryside. Things pick up again for the next three tracks (despite a deceivingly tranquil opening to “Celestial Shore”) and at this point it becomes fairly apparent that Park could do great things with a full band behind him. However, much of his style is based around the fact that he is clearly comfortable jamming by himself and his relaxed demeanour contributes to the overall aesthetic of the album. Certainly, though, a song like “Crow’s Feet” could only benefit from the backing of a group and hearing it in a live setting would undoubtedly provide an interesting contrast to its studio counterpart.

“In Limbo” is the centrepiece of Psychedelic Potato, a sprawling 7-minuter that ups the blues influence to the max. The pennywhistle section is eerily reminiscent of one used in the album’s first track which, intentionally or not, reinforces the idea that the album is intended to be digested as a whole. After such a memorable song, it would only be natural to expect the quality to drop slightly towards the end but this is not the case. If anything, “Devotion” might be the record’s most beautiful track, with the introduction of harmonica really adding to the atmosphere. “Sunday Night Blues” stays true to its title, returning to the more blues-influenced sound and setting up a brilliant finale (well, almost) in “Of the Grasslands”. The penultimate song is my personal favourite from the record; it has a dreamlike atmosphere that was only hinted at previously and the melodies are simply mesmerising, putting the listener in a blissful trance that sends you straight into open fields and beautiful blue skies. The title track somehow retains its effectiveness as a closer despite the brilliance of what came before it – it’s short, clocking in at just one and a half minutes, but effective, and stays true to the nature of the album.

Psychedelic Potato is a wonderfully weird journey that can only be truly understood by fully immersing yourself in its sonic landscapes. So grab a pair of your best headphones, appreciate what the demo-quality production adds to the music and give it a good listen.

You can stream or download Psychedelic Potato for free on Soundcloud: