Plasma Chasms’ Jane and Adrian take us on a psychedelic journey through their first album, Chrysalis
Aussie-Indie and So-Cal blend Plasma Chasms have just released their debut album, and it’s a sonic journey through space and time.
Opening with ‘Enter the Chrysalis’ and ‘Coolangatta’ and flowing right through to the near 7-minute masterpiece that is ‘Dream Wizard (The Cosmic Elevator Song’, Plasma Chasms have unleashed an interstellar, kaleidoscopic odyssey.
Seamlessly combining psychedelic-R&B with indie-pop, the album’s journey sees us on ‘Solaris’, before exploring the concept of ‘Entropy’.
If you’re looking for a record that will surprise you as much as it will delight you, then look no further.
Enter the Chrysalis
Adrian: This track sets the scene with your arrival at the intergalactic spaceport. You hear the sounds of spaceships landing and taking off, the murmur of other travellers, and the echo of your footsteps as you make your way through the terminal.
This is your journey. The concierge is ready to guide you to your first destination in this vast, otherworldly experience. You can listen to it linearly and hear new things each repeat or you can listen to the songs in any order and create your own experience.
Coolangatta
Adrian: Coolangatta was a unique blend kind of pieced together from various riffs and song fragments. In the context of the intergalactic journey, this track symbolises Earth.
We layered synths to evoke the essence of water – from delicate raindrops to powerful cascades, capturing its transformation into the formidable force of nature it can be, depicting the journey as well as the experience of the people withstanding the storms.
We drew inspiration from a few influences for this track, with King Gizzard’s ‘Iron Lung’ being something we were listening to a lot at this time. As the album’s first full track, it embodies the terrestrial—gritty, in-your-face, yet still retaining a trippy morphing vibe.
Psychedelic Carousel
Jane: We had a Danelectro 12-string guitar that we’ve been itching to use since our EP, hoping to capture that jangly, retro vibe. Adrian brought in an electric sitar to blend with the 12-string, and from there, the song started to take shape. It became the bounciest, most bubblegum pop track on the album.
Instead of writing a typical love song about being “already in love,” we flipped the idea, focusing on taking a leap of faith in love—capturing that moment of letting go and soaring high. Inspirationally we were looking to give the feel of something like The Byrds’ “The World Turns All Around Her,” with a playful pop feel with movement similar to “Time Bandit.”
Dreamers Often Lie
Jane: “Dreamers Often Lie” really took on a life of its own, evolving into this quirky, distinctive track. When Adrian recorded the guitar for the demo, it had a sampled, looping quality that brought in a hip-hop vibe. We drew some inspiration from El Michels Affair, whose blend of hip-hop with vintage grooves has this delicious tonal quality.
Lyrically, there are nods to Shakespeare. The track has a Radiohead-adjacent feel before morphing into trippy, Beatles-like indie rock. It’s an experiment in breaking away from traditional songwriting formulas, with a lot of unusual groovy elements woven throughout.
Hourglass
Adrian: This track is slower and more introspective, with a vibe reminiscent of “Wish You Were Here” and a touch of Beatles influence. The layers and sounds that weave in and out give it a haunting quality, which we really enjoyed creating.
Jane truly brought the magic with the synths and strings as the song gradually builds. We wanted to make this one feel a little more intimate and personal than the other tracks.
Kings and Castles
Jane: “Kings and Castles” came to life after Adrian and I were talking about the surreal dreams we both experienced with COVID. For me, fever dreams always take me back to childhood, where I’d be trapped in nightmarish versions of children’s games and nursery rhymes.
The song draws inspiration from Radiohead’s “There There” and “Climbing Up the Walls” and is essentially a descent into madness. We played with the concept of duality while losing oneself, with one voice representing the person and the other their inner voice. The interplay between these voices adds an extra layer throughout the track.
Already Waiting
Jane: Shimmery and dreamy, this track was crafted to be synth-heavy with deep, layered textures. We drew inspiration from Tame Impala’s “Taxi’s Here” in how I wanted to build the layers gradually. It has a modern vibe, blending the sounds of Tame Impala and Unknown Mortal Orchestra with some really chill Mac DeMarco influences.
We experimented with the guitar tuning on this one and got some great, unique sounds. It’s primarily a synth track, filled with dreamy, atmospheric elements. Lyrically it shares the feeling of being so in love that your entire life is hooked, the feeling each time you see or speak with the person of your dreams.
But all that is happening while battling the internal conflict of being vulnerable. Putting yourself forward versus not wanting to shatter the feeling of taking a chance at those infinite possibilities of happiness.
Painted Rain
Jane: “Painted Rain” began with some simple piano chords, inspired by Dungen’s use of strings, particularly “Du är för fin för mig”. I love the emotional pull that strings create. This track is our version of a Beatles “In My Life” song.
While the album explores various forms of human connection, this one takes a more introspective approach, delving into inner thoughts and reflections on those connections. The main piano part was originally written on guitar, but we found it resonated better on piano. The ending, with its sitar and space noises, were great to play with.
Solaris
Jane: Solaris incorporates disco elements into this track. The main focus was on creatively experimenting with subtly morphing synths throughout the track. We played with overlapping melodies that evolve over these shifting synths. The result was a fusion between 70s disco and something a little reminiscent of Jamiroquai, which was on heavy rotation, particularly “White Knuckle Ride”, creating an upbeat party vibe.
It’s primarily a synth-driven song with magical, spacey elements swirling everywhere. The guitars play very supportive roles, while the bass takes the lead, blending everything into a sound that’s both magical and otherworldly.
Just for you
Adrian: This one is kinda like the calm before the storm. It starts very stripped down. But as it goes along, the psychedelic infects it and it elevates to a whole different level. It’s like if the song “Norwegian Wood” took LSD. It is its own distinctive soundscape.
Another emotionally resonant song, we wanted this to be a truthful outpouring of dedication, with each layer adding to a resonant silky bliss.
Interstellar Baby
Adrian: Inspired largely by Marvin Gaye, this track kicks off the album’s ascent with a fun, cosmic-level love song. I wanted to capture the warm, happy sounds of vintage Motown and RnB, drawing particularly from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.
We aimed to create something that echoes the vibes of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and “Mercy Mercy Me.” Lyrically we wanted to capture a warm summer evening out drinking and dancing where the night feels timeless and you do all you can to soak it in.
Entropy
Adrian: For this one we wanted to capture some iconic rock and roll with a strong emphasis on guitar – a la a little Led Zeppelin. When we added a touch of synth to give it a little depth, it naturally took on a hint of Middle Eastern flavour and a little modern touch. I have a deep love for hard and heavy tracks, and I always make sure to include a few in our releases.
This one is straight from the soul. With an Open G tuning, it has a vibe that feels like a blend of Stone Temple Pilots and Led Zeppelin. It’s more stripped back compared to the other songs on the record, but it makes up for it with some solid rock and roll on the way out.
Dream Wizard (The Cosmic Elevator Song)
Adrian: Dream Wizard started off a little as an experiment. We had a number of different riffs and song ideas that we wanted to use, they weren’t quite enough for a full track so we wanted to creatively blend them into a single track. The result was heavily inspired by The Beatles, especially the second side of Abbey Road, as well as some of Rush’s epic compositions.
This song marks the end of the trip and was the first one we came up with for the record. It starts with heavy King Gizzard-like sections, then shifts into a Rush-inspired sound before diving into some Paul McCartney-style musings about the weather.
Finally, it launches you back into the Cosmic Elevator. If you figure it out, there’s a way to re-enter the elevator and experience it all over again. It’s by far the most complex arrangement we’ve done, and we see it as the title track of the record.
Jane: I wanted to introduce some elevator music with a jazzy, Rhodes style outro completing your journey. We wanted that section to feel almost a little like you are heading into the menu where you can choose to relive the adventure, or change your adventure. Looping you back in, transformation isn’t linear, but cyclical.
