Connan Mockasin

Connan Mockasin

We are, without question, in the midst of a psychedelic renaissance. While the term ‘psychedelic’ remains a bit of a vague umbrella and qualifier easily applied to anything with a bit of swirl and/or a dash of reverb, artists that would once be considered fringe artists — relegated to the record collections of only the absolute deepest diggers — have found unprecedented popularity in the past 10 years. New Zealand’s Connan Mockasin is one of the brightest lights of the new psych movement, and is a genuinely singular voice in a sea of ‘60s garage worship and banal synth bashers.

Mockasin’s music is an exploration of approachable, lush textures that have been warped and adjusted in ways that become a sonic funhouse mirror. The musician appears the image of a Norwegian tennis pro from the ‘70s and his music follows suit. Most of the sounds Mockasin plays with are finished with the sheen and gloss of late ‘70s AM radio, slipped a tab of acid, and fed back through things like sped-up tape delays and chorus pedals.

Mockasin’s last outing — 2013’s Caramel — saw the self-contained singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer write and record the entire album from the confines of a hotel room somewhere in Tokyo, and the result is a sexy (if claustrophobic) slice of weirdness that sees the singer’s affected falsetto peak in through clouds of wispy guitars like bars of sunlight jutting through venetian blinds on a hazy Sunday morning. The lyrical content is always a bit vague, and often more than a bit creepy (“I’m the Man That Will Find You” for example), but truth be told, Mockasin’s music could be described to the uninitiated as a less suburban version of what Mac DeMarco does that manages to go the full trip and get weird enough to leave the flower crown and neon shirt sect seeking the more comfortable terra firma of their Tame Impala and Arcade Fire records.  

While we wait anxiously await a follow up to Caramel, Mockasin has decided to hit the road stateside this winter and will bring his outlandish sounds to Miami’s Bardot December 3 at 10pm.

~ Von Bader