King Tuff - The Other (New Vinyl LP)

Vinyl LP pressing, housed in a gatefold sleeve and includes digital download. The ten tracks that make up The Other represent a kind of psychic evolution for King Tuff. No less hooky than previous records, the new songs ditch the goofy rock-and-roll bacchanalia narratives of earlier records in favor of expansive arrangements, a diversity of instrumentation, and lyrics that straddle the fence between painful ruminations and a childlike, creative energy untarnished by cynicism. The soulful and cosmic new direction is apparent from the album's first moments: introduced by the gentle ringing of a chime, acoustic guitar, and warm organ tones, "The Other" is a narrative of redemption born of creativity. As Thomas sings about being stuck in traffic, directionless, with no particular reason to be alive, he hears the call of "the other," a kind of siren song that, instead of leading towards destruction, draws the narrator towards a creative rebirth. Elsewhere, tracks like "Thru the Cracks" and "Psycho Star" balance psychedelia with day-glo pop hooks. "The universe is probably an illusion, but isn't it so beautifully bizarre?" he asks on "Psycho Star," providing one of the record's central tenets. At a time when everything in the world feels so deeply spoiled and the concept of making meaning out of the void seems both pointless and impossible, why not try?

 Tracklist

A1     The Other     
A2     Raindrop Blue     
A3     Thru The Cracks     
A4     Psycho Star     
A5     Infinite Mile     
B1     Birds Of Paradise     
B2     Circuits In The Sand     
B3     Ultraviolet     
B4     Neverending Sunshine     
B5     No Man's Land