Release Date: April 04th 2025. Record Label: Mongrel Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
A Colourful Trip Through Melancholy - Tracklisting
1. Get Out Of My Way
2. Wilt
3. Miserable
4. Fuzzbox
5. Mind Pollution
6. Throw Away
7. Flashbacks
8. Smells Like Rehab
9. Sad Things Write Themselves
10. Colours Fade Away
11. Into A Dream
12. Stargazer
13. Absolution
Members:
Andrew Paine - Vox/Guitars/Keys
Mandy Backstrom - Bass/Vox
Tim Ball - Guitars
Ca'lee Tucker - Guitars
with Mark Van Zyl
Review
South African Psych/Alternative/Shoegaze Rockers Filthy Hippies return with their new album A Colourful Trip Through Melancholy which offers another experimental slice of Kaleidoscopic sounding Rock and Pop with hints of Noise, Space and Stoner Rock based expeditions. A bit more conventional than their 2024 album Share The Pill but with a subtle Shoegaze and 80’s Electronica feel. The record can be described as soulful, ethereal and dreamlike with a minimal HEAVY ROCK presence being used for the heavier moments that the album contains.
However, for the majority of the record A Colourful Trip Through Melancholy is more content being laid-back with its Shoegaze and Space Rock surroundings. The electronic and synth beats have moments of The Cure, Slowdive and Doves at times which are firmly implemented into the band’s core sound very early on tracks such as Get Out Of My Way, Wilt and Miserable. The quietly pitched vocals from Andrew Pain and Mandy Backstrom never feel out of place or pitched in anger but they do show moments of some Garage Rock or Punk Rock angst especially on Fuzzbox and Mind Pollution.
The record does have an abstract flow inspired by the likes of EELS, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground and Phil Spector which allows Filthy Hippies to be very hard to categorize and the real heavier grooves, moments and perhaps STONER sounding melodies start to appear within the second half of the record and mostly through the standout sixth track Throw Away. The song has an assortment of sonic distortion, overlapping Stoner Rock guitars which allows the vocals to drift into different dimensional planes.
With a heavier experimental guitar leaning sound developing even further on the tracks Flashbacks, Sad Things Write Themselves, Colours Fade Away, Into A Dream and Absolution allows the Space Rock expression to flow naturally that leads into some of the most powerful and emotionally charged sounds that Filthy Hippies have released to date.
A Colourful Trip Through Melancholy is a perfectly named record with Filthy Hippies on a complete hallucinogenic trip of creative discovery where the results can be quite magical and downright confusing at times. However, the result is never boring and the music is played superbly throughout with magical sounds that need multiple playthroughs to fully understand the whole cinematic journey. Filthy Hippies never release the same record twice and that makes them a true original act in my mind and firmly keep their reputation as one of South Africa’s best musical exports currently out there.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
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