Fuchsia II: From Psychedelia…To a Distant Place

Sound Practices (001)

 

The name of Fuchsia may ring bells to many of the record collectors focusing on psychedelic progressive folk rock of the late 60s and early 70s like Jade and Comus. After over 40 years of his first Fuchsia album, the band leader Tony Durant is back with a second album! First his idea was to try out some new songs in a very simple way on his own and maybe offer the results to a small amount of family and friends only but the project took a life of its own and grew into a fully realized studio album recorded in Australia with several other musicians on drums, cello, violin, accordion and backing vocals! Tony certainly hasn’t lost his muse and his guitar playing and singing still sounds wonderful after all these years. He has ear for excellent melodies and his music certainly has a special, unique vibe of its own that I really can’t explain. Although this album is not really THAT psychedelic, it has a certain charm that you just have to love. It did take me some time to fully get into II, but now I can’t stop playing it. Tracks like “Lost Generations”, “Rainbow Song” (including a re-working of “Shoes and Ships” from the first album), “Fuchsia Song” and “Piper at the Gates” are just so catchy and hooking that they stay in your mind. The more peaceful and folky, melancholic ballads like “I’ll Remember Her Face”, “Crossing the Big C” and “The Waves” are also just wonderful stuff. There is also some great solo guitar work on several songs. This CD sounds amazing throughout which is no wonder as it was mastered by Don Martley (Silverchair, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Black Seeds, INXS, Nick Cave…). This CD has 39 minutes of some of the best music released for some time so just go and get it. Fuchsia II is also going to play some live gigs so don’t miss out the opportunity… Please also check out the 7” on Fruits de Mer Records Durant recently recorded with the great Swedish psych band Me and My Kites named after a song on the first Fuchsia album…

fuchsia.bandcamp.com