There’s something romantic and kind of magical about a debut EP. It often brims with all the exuberance of fresh ideas and unbridled enthusiasm. For Red Giant Mirage self-titled, this feeling is so intense as to be a physical presence.
Red Giant Mirage is the brainchild of Perth’s Braydon Willmott, a self-affirmed lover of ’60s and ’70s psychedelic rock. A multi-instrumentalist, Willmott claims to spend most of his days “exploring the sounds that exude from either his guitar strings, drum skins, or laryngo-pharynx thing.”
Red Giant Mirage has created a stellar exponent of psychedelic rock. It’s an EP brimming with energy and unbridled enthusiasm.
The adoration for all things psychedelic is not lost on this EP. It embodies all of the tremendously colourful, warm, lo-fi elements of the genre’s best; The Doors, The Electric Prunes, The Byrds, and even some Hendrix flavours for good measure.
Kicking off the trip is A Brave New World, based on a passage from Julian Huxley’s identically named novel. It depicts a dystopian society involving a whole lot of forcibly drug-induced orgies. Lyrically, it’s a striking opening to the album, navigated by a groovy, unassuming instrumental that eventually reaches its crescendo with a riveting keys solo.
Killer Whale, the EP’s lead single, represents a bit of a musical anomaly for Willmott. Unlike his usual process of methodically piecing songs together over several days, the song was written and recorded within one day. The fluidity is evident in the final cut, which ebbs and flows between intricate rhythms and sprawling instrumentals with alarming ease.
Unlike the effortlessness of its predecessor, I Know I’m Dead melts several ideas down and reforges them into its own being. The result is no less intoxicating, however. The track’s opening is perhaps the most reminiscent of classic psychedelia, packed with Lennon-esque harmonies and epic guitar lines.
A welcome left turn of textural (and very pretty) guitar parts see I Know I’m Dead come to a close, seamlessly transitioning into Actualisation, a short, folk-infused tune. It’s a perfect little palette cleanser before the epic feast awaiting on the closer.
Screen Practise takes up the role of the album’s epic. It’s a throttling track, marked by a thumping rhythm section and cascading guitars during. Willmott learnt the recording and mixing process during the construction of this EP, with Screen Practise being the first song recorded. While it stands out as having the most frayed edges, it only adds to its bombastic and chaotic energy.
Red Giant Mirage has made the quintessential debut EP. Frenetic, playful and joyous, with all the necessary musical nous and attention to detail backing it up.
