Here we find the duo of Rhonda Hofmans Johnson (lyrics, main vocals, harmonies, acoustic guitar) and Chris Fish Johnson (lyrics, backing vocals, spoken word, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, classical guitar, soundscapes, synths, piano and keyboards) being joined by Andrew Newth (electric guitars, soundscapes and percussion). This is a concept album in that the lyrics are based around the books of ancient catastrophist writer Immanuel Velikovsky. This name was new to me, so I have spent some time reading about him – it appears his research is often described as pseudoscience, and many of his ideas are scorned at by academia. However, during the Seventies he managed to gain large audiences for his talks, and such was the controversy that the American Association for the Advancement of Science felt obliged to address the situation and devoted a scientific session to Velikovsky featuring (among others) Velikovsky himself and Professor Carl Sagan who rebutted his ideas.
It is certainly an interesting concept for an album, and the psychedelic dream state of Moofish is a fitting musical style for this to be brought forward in a popular artform. It is Rhonda’s Kate Bush-style vocals which are the main element of the arrangements, with the instruments designed to support her vocals and always cast them to the fore. A tapestry of musical threads are built, gossamer thin, but full of strength as the music relaxes us and allows us to get inside the world they are creating and the ideas they are putting forward. Obviously this will be of interest to those who still follow Velikovsky’s ideas, but also to those of us who enjoy our music to be full of contrast in that one aspect of this is strong, the other less so, but they meet in the middle to create something which is designed to be played on headphones late at night, preferably looking up at the stars, and thinking about what is happening between our ears.
Currently available on Bandcamp for just $10 NZD, which means it is as cheap as chips in other countries, I am sure this will be of interest to many.
Rating: 6/10
Links:
https://www.moofish.co.nz/
