4. SagittariusPresent Tense
This album could be racked under ‘sunshine pop’ or ‘pop psych’. My idea of what makes good psychedelic music isn’t a fixed thing – it’s about the feeling you get from a record. In direct relation to my work, I think psychedelia is about creating another reality. I work from pure imagination and records that create their own spaces are hugely appealing to me. The Aphrodite’s Child album does that and this Sagittarius record does it too. They are records that really suck you into their own worlds. Present Tense takes you to paradise, it makes you want to jump into the speakers and fully experience the place that they’ve imagined for the listener. Growing up on the Beach Boys, I was familiar with the kind of sound on the record. It’s very gentle, very orchestral, soft and lush; it offers a place to escape to from the real world. You can check in whenever you want to put the record on. In a way, the music we make as Seahawks tries to do the same thing – it’s trying to conjure up a glorious utopia in a world that’s clearly gone to shit!
