Unknown Mortal Orchestra
★★★
V
JAGJAGUWAR. CD/DL/LP
Heavenly
New Zealand’s psychedelic conductors reach for fifth dimension.
While Ruban Nielson has long projected his music across the widest screens – Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s 2018 album was called Sex & Food; 2015’s Multi-Love detailed the collapse of a polygamous relationship – it makes sense that the dot-joining introspection of V should demand double album status. Explorations of memory, family and Nielson’s Hawaiian heritage lead to Keaukaha and I Killed Captain Cook, tracks influenced by Hapa-Haole (“half-white”) pop music. Contrasting with these deep roots, however, are songs that seem to have sprung from the shallow soil of Nielson’s recent residence in Palm Springs. Layla or The Beach are tightly manicured, hothoused, irrigated by diverted ’80s pop, Spyro Gyra fusion and chemically treated funk; the Lost In Music liberation of Weekend Run feels like Christopher Cross playing Sexx Laws. There are featureless patches, bits of white-box real-estate that need a little more character, but there’s always something intriguing around V’s corners.