Everyone already loves Temples. Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher have already waxed lyrical about their ability and potential, calling them the best new band in Britain. With all the hype and expectation surrounding them, you would have been forgiven for worrying that they’d do a Palma Violets and disappoint. This they have not done. Yes, their straight-out-of-the-60s brand of psychedelia is not exactly forward-thinking, but it’s as good as anything from the Summer of Love, drawing clear influences from the Kinks, and is part of the powerful movement of indie psychedelia burst open by Tame Impala, whose signature swagger is in clear evidence on Sun Structures.
Such modern psychedelia is all the rage at the moment, with artists like Morgan Delt and Foxygen perfectly exemplifying 2014’s taste for the trippy. ‘Shelter Song’, already a favourite up and down the country, opens the album in impressive fashion and the stunning ‘Mesmerise’ and ‘Colours of Life’ slot brilliantly into the work. And it’s not just the singles which impress: psychedelic epic ‘Sand Dance’ followed by the contrastingly brief and tender ‘Fragment’s Light’ end the album on a definite high. Hazy without being boring, reflecting without imitating, Sun Structures is a masterpiece.
