LIttle Jimi - The Cantos (Album Review)

Release Date: August 20th 2021. Record Label: Mrs Red Sound. Format: DD/Vinyl

The Cantos - Tracklisting

1.First Cantos

2.The Way

3.Palace Afternoon 

4.Machetehew

5.Indian Rain

6.Last Cantos XXIV

7.Last Cantos (Bonus Version) 

Members

Benjamin Monnereau: guitar, vocals

Guillaume Arancibia: guitar

Antoine Le Gall: drums

Review

The Cantos is the 2nd full length album from French Prog/Psych Stoner Rockers Little Jimi. The band have expanded their Cosmic Doom based Psychedelic Stoner sound and The Cantos makes for a more engaging record compared to their debut album. They share many similar ideas and themes on this album that you would expect to hear on a Mars Red Sky album. This is perhaps more in tune with 60s and 70s Psychedelic Rock compared to Mars Red Sky. There is also a more “free-flowing” style of ideas when Little Jimi brings a more classic Doom flavour on this album.

The Space Rock attitude of the album is quite captivating especially on the 1st few tracks on the record with opening track First Cantos doing a damn fine job allowing Little Jimi to impress with their different styles of music. The song is way more Progressive that I initially expected but I was fully sold on this Psychedelic journey right  Lush vocal arrangements and tight musical melodies go into All Them Witches and Earthless sonic based wizardry but Little Jimi play a few tricks of their own when the song goes full on Space Rock merged with hazy Psychedelic grooves.

Second song - The Way - starts innocently enough with Little Jimi bringing a 60s Psychedelic Playground to the mix before adding heavy doomed out guitars and classic rock surroundings. The song does take time to fully get moving but this is one of the more engaging and warm-hearted songs on the record. The lyrics are mostly peaceful and the song becomes frantically heavier towards the end and the slightly distorted elements of the song is what I remembered the most.

Third song - Palace Afternoon - opens with another slow-paced groove and Ambient based sounds with a convincing guitar solo promising that heavier things are going to appear sooner rather than later. Little Jimi earn their Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metal spurs here with a song that shows off their talents down to a fine art. A drone-ish quality gives this song a more daring and visceral edge. The song even drifts off into Indie Rock surroundings before moving back to the band’s Stoner Rock roots. It’s an interesting creative choice the band have gone for this song and that makes this my favourite song on The Cantos.

For the final part of the album, Little Jimi explores the fine line of Psychedelic based Doom/Stoner Rock that Earthless, All Them Witches and Mars Red Sky have used so well. Though, these guys bring a more “doomier” construct to their sound especially on songs such as: Machetehew and Indian Rain.

The Cantos is a bit weird and experimental in nature but this allows Little Jimi to be judged on their own creative decisions. This is an album that has a bit of everything to entice listeners with and you will be surprised by the heavy spaced out journey Little Jimi takes you upon on this record. 

 

All in all, The Cantos is an wonderfully offbeat and surreal album backed up by excellent production values. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Floriane at Shake Promotion for the promo.

The Cantos  is available to buy on on August 20th (digital) and September 17th (LP) via Mrs Red Sound

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

LITTLE JIMI Announce Details of New Album - The Cantos

French heavy prog-psych trio LITTLE JIMI are back with their new LP 'The Cantos', to be released worldwide 20th August (digital) and 17th September (LP) via Mrs Red Sound. 

LITTLE JIMI's upcoming record 'The Cantos' is none other than the sonic initiation story of Jimi, a strange kid whose schizophrenic personality is a doorway toward an in-depth introspective and fanciful musical universe. Space rock, trippy doom and a bit of grunge are perfectly mixed here, bearing elements as disparate as hypnotic and mythological riffs in the vein of Mr. Bison or Elephant Tree, and All Them Witches's creative subtlety.

Wrapped in an efficient fuzzy fog and peppered by pounding drums, "Last Cantos" is a highly psychedelic and mystic song. The topics are directly borrowed from the Greek mythology, and its rise in power is absolutely addictive. Video by Jimmy Kinast and Benjamin Monnereau, helped by Clément Pelo

Commenting on the album the band say: "The Cantos project - music and artwork - is inspired by writings about travel, such as Homer's Odyssey. It has been a common thread for the whole musical creation, we knew where we wanted to go from the beginning. We took as time as we needed to write and create this record, we didn't rush so nothing was left to chance. The Cantos is an item that we are really proud of."

The artwork - by Emy Rojas from Arrache-toi Un Oeil art studio - illustrates the album's six tracks by staging Jimi and his friend Katus (teddy bear/monster as strange as dangerous).

Recorded at Mana Studio (Chateauneuf, France) by Manuel Meslier and mastered par Pierre Etchandy, their upcoming album 'The Cantos' is coming out on August 20th 2021 on digital and on September 17th 2021 on LP via Mrs Red Sound, the record label created by Mars Red Sky.

LITTLE JIMI new album The Cantos Out August 20th (digital) and September 17th (LP) Via Mrs Red Sound - PRE-ORDER

TRACK LISTING:

1. First Cantos
2. The Way
3. Palace Afternoon
4. Matchetehew

5. Indian Rain
6. Last Cantos XXIV

LITTLE JIMI:

Benjamin Monnereau: guitar, vocals
Guillaume Arancibia: guitar, backing vocals
Antoine Le Gall: drums

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Twitter

Thanks to Shake Promotion for all of the details.

Little Jimi - EP.1 (Album Review)

Release date: November 16th 2018. Label: MRS Records. Format: DD/Vinyl

EP 1 – Tracklisting

1.Jimi 06:40

2.Lamp Song 05:33

3.Dock 11 04:50

4.Molimoh 06:08

5.Goodbye Katus 07:01

6.Midnight Mojo (live) 08:20

Review

EP1 is the album release from French Psychedelic Stoner Rockers – Little Jimi. Not a name that you would associate with the Stoner Rock genre but it operates within the story that unfolds on the band’s highly charismatic and gloomy debut album. The band take influence from The Black Angels and Mars Red Sky. As you will hear heavy psychedelic stoner sounds that gives away to a more gloomy atmosphere.

The EP is quite loud from the start with opening song – Jimi – having a surreal eastern vibe to the song but all held in the confinements of Psychedelic Stoner Rock. The vocals are quite different as I was expecting something else but they have a 70s feel to them. The music moves from different eras of Stoner Rock but still maintaining a modern Stoner groove.

Other songs on the EP such as Lamp Song, Dock 11 and Molimoh – allow Little Jimi to slowly build a heavy Space Rock sound to their music and the results are quite trippy and very weird at times. The songwriting is first rate even if the lyrical content is OTT and doesn’t make sense at times. However it adds to the overall enjoyment of this larger-than-life record.

If you’re a fan of Mars Red Sky then you will surely enjoy this band. Which isn’t surprising since this record is being released by Mars Red Sky own record label – MRS Records. So the influence is definitely there for everyone to witness and rock out to.

The standout song has to be the final two songs – Goodbye Katus and Midnight Mojo (Live) – as the band play some of the heaviest sounds on the entire album.

Little Jimi are not your usual Psychedelic Stoner Rock band and that’s what makes them so appealing and equally addictive. EP1 is a gloomy experience but there are moments of blissful Psychedelic Stoner Rock that you won’t forget. Overall, EP1 is an absolute joy from start to finish and I want to hear more from the band in the future.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage PR for the promo. Little Jimi is available to buy now from MRS Records.

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp