Crystal Jacqueline is a UK solo artist, as well as a member of UK band The Honey Pot. As also supporting instrumentalists from her solo career are involved in The Honey Pot, it is at least to some extent fairly natural that Fruits de Mer Records release this double 7 inch vinyl single featuring contributions from both Crystal Jacqueline and the band she is a member of. The details on how and why this came to be can be found on the label site of Fruits de Mer Records, and I applaud this specialist label for being upfront and honest about their productions, which of course also make their productions that much more interesting for the fans.
There’s a fairly great variety at hand on the seven tracks featured here. Pink Floyd’s Remember a Day alternates between sparsely and richly arranged passages, with that subtle cosmic variety of psychedelia one would expect whenever someone cover a Pink Floyd song. The cover of Icarus Peel It’s raining is a darker, harder and grittier affair, with garage rock tendencies and a sound that sounds like a frantic blend of The Doors and Hawkwind to my ears. Jefferson Airplane’s classic White Rabbit is explored through a three part cycle of different arrangements, where the sparse, nervous opening one is the one I found most tantalizing personally, with a nerve and tension the more elaborate arrangements in the following sequences doesn’t quite manage to recreate nor replace. The Fleur de Lys Tick Tock appears to be built on a very distinct blues base, with pumping bass line and a dominating organ as key elements and with plenty of guitar reverbs adding the psychedelic details I presume most followers of Fruits de Mer’s productions have a soft spot for.
Might Baby’s Egyptian Tomb alternates between sparse and richly layered arrangements, within a more accessible and arguably pop oriented context, at least as far as the more sparsely arranged sequences go. A mournful woodwind of some kind (clarinet?) and dampened organ details adds character to this excursion, again with plenty of both subtle and more up front psychedelic guitar details to enjoy. Curved Air’s Puppets is another song that alternates between sparsely arranged and richly arranged themes, in this case with more of a classical symphonic overall mood and feel about the latter, a charming construction but perhaps closer to progressive rock than psychedelic rock as such in terms of style. The Electric Prunes I had Too Much to Dream concludes this double single, and following an initial array of subtly confusing alternating themes, strengthening the lyrical topic quite nicely I’ll admit, this composition shifts to a tight, compact and energetic organ and guitars driven garage rock oriented affair.
Good, high quality renditions of compositions from yesteryear is what this double vinyl single is all about, with a great width and span in terms of style differences explored and, one exception aside, with Crystal Jacqueline’s lead vocals delightfully utilized. A production that merits an inspection by those with a fairly wide taste within the psychedelic rock sphere who also enjoy songs of that kind that features a high quality female lead vocalist.
My rating: 80/100
