BABE RAINBOW RELEASE NEW ALBUM ‘CHANGING COLOURS’

Today marks the release of the fantastic 4th long player for folk psych band Babe Rainbow.

The relaxed nature of their sound belies their work ethic, as Babe Rainbow released three albums in just as many years. The eponymous debut, their sophomore effort ‘Double Rainbow’ and 2019’s ‘Today’.

Last year, Babe Rainbow decamped to Topanga Canyon to start work on album #4 with regarded producer Kyle Mullarky, who was shaping similar sounds to them on the West Coast. Not surprisingly their music had already caught the ears of L.A’s tight knit psychedelic music community, who had invited Babe Rainbow into their fold.

Filled with inspiration and mountain air, the band returned to the Music Farm in Byron Bay to finish the record, teaming with producer Wayne Connelly, who previously helmed classic records by The Vines and Neil Finn.

The resultant record, ‘Changing Colours’, is a leap forward in every way. Babe Rainbow have consolidated all that’s wonderful about their previous music, and pushed further in each direction.

Think the type of music that was floating down from Laurel Canyon in the early 70s, as Crosby, Stills and Nash waited for Young to wander back from the forest. Think The Beach Boys after they had packed up the surfboards, ditched their LA label, and moved to the hills to practice TM and smoke Californian grass. Think Joni.

The track ‘California’ is proof positive that there is always room for another classic paean to the great state, especially one that captures the sunshine and sense of space as Babe Rainbow has done here. If James Taylor released this song in 1972, it would have sold a million.

‘Your Imagination feat Jaden Smith’, a beautiful daydream, a meditation adorned with gentle harmonies and breezy guitars. Fan-turned-friend Jaden Smith lends his particular genius to this track, joining the vocal mantra.

‘Thinking Like A River’ floats downstream for a languorous, luxurious three minutes. Or is it half an hour? Time becomes irrelevant here.

It can’t all be head music, though. ‘Ready For Tomorrow’ is Jack’s favourite tune from the new record, driven by disco-lite drums, with jazzy guitars weaving between the beats as if leaping a jump rope. Rainbow Rock borrows a baggy beat from the bands of Manchester and drenches it in mystical Byron Bay energy, a phased-out vocal and jazzy guitar licks uproots it from Earth and propels it towards the satellites. Its Elliot’s favourite of the new album “It’s quite a trip – and you can dance to it”.

Elsewhere, there’s the island-inspired rhythms of first single ‘Zeitgeist’, which drummer and newest member Miles Myjavec says “Zeitgeist feels like very new ground for us, incorporating our strengths and musical passions in a different way to how we’ve done so in the past.” Singer Angus says the stoned singalong ‘New Zealand Spinach’ “made a last minute dash for the album”. The dippy Donovan vibes of ‘Curl Free’, and gentle ‘Smile’, like a cork bobbing on the ocean complete the trip. The album closes with the affirmation track ‘Different Stages of Life’.

Babe Rainbow’s new album Changing Colours is a relaxed meditation that folds the map between California and Byron Bay; compressing time, like a needle skipping over the past half century of music.

Praise for Babe Rainbow:

“Psych-pop constructed with a painterly touch, Babe Rainbow seem to thrive on feeling, unhooking themselves from logical realms and embarking on lengthy journeys across turbulent inner oceans.” – CLASH

“Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream”  – Classic Rock

“A beautiful psych-rock track that encapsulates a certain sun-soaked 70s nostalgia.” – The Forty-Five

“Everything takes a dip into the pool of reverb to cool off, and the listener is left idealising the idyllic beach scenes the music video showcases.“ – YUCK

1. Zeitgeist
2. The Wind
3. Your Imagination feat Jaden
4. Ready For tomorrow
5. California
6. Rainbow Rock
7. New Zealand Spinach
8. Thinking Like A River
9. Curl Free
10. Smile
11. Changing Colours

12. Different Stages of Life