Take a journey with San Ramon-natives Wo Fat and their sonic exploration of the furthest reaches of the strange times we find ourselves in. Come and walk over the tipping point and see what they have to say
In today’s musical landscape, you must be doing something right as a band to release multiple albums, so for a band like Wo Fat to release this, their seventh, album is a thing to be applauded. The number 7 seems prominent in other notable areas too, for instance, we have here, seven songs on this album, which itself clocks in at seventy-six minutes. Now, for all of you who at this point are thinking “oohh boy that means overly long songs” you are at the same time, correct and mistaken. You see, there are seven gloriously long songs here, but the quality is such that the whole album flies by in a blissful haze of purple smoke, it never seems like anything outstays it’s welcome, but I’m getting ahead of myself again (which happens quite a lot!).
What we have on offer with this album is the very highest quality of blues rock. The band are a well-oiled machine by now and it shows, long form rock outs which sound like an extended jamming session, yet it never veers over into out-of-control indulgent territory, it always feels like they know exactly where they want the music to go. That’s the mark of a band which knows exactly what each other is capable of and whose members are not afraid of letting loose every now and again. I must say, on more than one occasion I may have dusted off the trusty air guitar and shredded like only my imagination can (don’t worry, this was all done in private!).
The album kicks off with the 14 minutes of “Orphans of The Singe” and is a glorious introduction to the album as a whole. It has an expansive quality which feels cinematic in its execution. It’s grandiose and ambitious and a glorious way to start an album. The quality never dips, whether it’s the slightly unsettling “The Witching Chamber” which wades from the shore of blues rock into the murky depths of psychedelic doom which is a superb exploration of their traditional sound and makes the album stronger as a result. Or the seriously funky and groove laden aural stylings of “Overworlder” which if you don’t find yourself nodding along to, well, I feel sorry for you.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the final track and 16 minute wonder that is “The Oracle” It’s such a fitting end to the album and encapsulates everything which has come before it in a transcendental journey of musical discovery. The touchstones of blues, stoner, psychedelic, and doom are all present and correct, waving as you pass like a parade of melodious musical representations brought to life by the skill of the band.
As you can tell, I rather liked this album, if you like any of the genres I’ve touched on in here then you will find a lot to like on The Singularity. All that remains to be said is for you to go and listen to it, and be prepared to reach for your air guitar and grin like you mean it.
