What strange music: joyful, optimistic, happy, rich. It sounds like Nick Drake not on a dark side, but on a bright side of the moon. ‘Gentle Blue Cherry Bell’, from this great LP, blooms from the same garden as the one tended by Syd Barrett. And what magnificent orchestration is on this mighty ‘Twice Upon A Rhyme’ album! This joyfully psychedelic LP reminds me of the atmosphere of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, the spirituality of The Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’, and the works of Cat Stevens and Jethro Tull. But this is not an imitation but a very original thing. This is a brilliant musical lost world, a world that should definitely be rediscovered.
19 January 2022