Album Review & Track Premiere: Lamp of the Universe, The Akashic Field
[Click play above to steam the premiere of ‘Minds of Love’ by Lamp of the Universe. The Akashic Field is out Jan. 11 on HeadSpin Records.]
The most reliable trajectory to think of when it comes to Lamp of the Universe is outward. Far outward. The long-running solo-project of Hamilton, New Zealand’s Craig Williamson, begun during his late-’90s run with Datura and continued through his founding and releasing three albums with the heavier-psych trio Arc of Ascent, has consistently held to an exploratory standard, and with a foundation in acid folk and a unifying depth of arrangement, Williamson has shone his Lamp on an entire cosmic spectrum, from sitar-laced meditations to the pulses of atmosphere-breaching space rock and beyond.
The Akashic Field is the follow-up to 2020’s Dead Shrine (review here) and something of a spiritual successor to Arc of Ascent‘s 2017 third and final-at-least-for-now LP, Realms of the Metaphysical (review here), finding Williamson enacting full-band sounds on his own in the recording for the eight included tracks, emphasizing the backing of a drum kit, which is something that’s been intermittent throughout the Lamp of the Universe catalog.
It’s no small shift. Album opener “Return as Light” (premiered here) finds its momentum quickly by swirling backward melodies and various keys around a central drum pattern with tambourine added for extra movement, given complement by layers of Williamson‘s laid back, gently-styled vocals. The subsequent “Emerald Sands” adds a fuzzed out electric guitar to its own acoustic baseline procession, and pushes the group-all-together further while holding to the lysergic spirit that pervades here much as throughout the Lamp of the Universe discography. This blend of an established approach and a corresponding will to find new expressions for it is the core of what Williamson does with Lamp of the Universe.
For anyone unfamiliar with the outfit’s past work, the aesthetic shifts of The Akashic Field will of course be less palpable, but suffice it to say there’s a linearity to the progressive sound realized across this record’s 42-minute span. Even if it seems stark in comparison to some of Lamp of the Universe‘s other output, a song like “Return as Light” or its side-B-opening counterpart, the grit-fuzz-distorted riffer “Descendants” (premiered here), isn’t coming out of nowhere, as ethereal as it might ultimately seem to be.
As narrative goes, that’s the story of The Akashic Field. It is Williamson putting himself to work across a broader scope of rock arrangements, working as producer as well as performer as he does and has for over 20 years. And it should be noted that, even as The Akashic Field seems to brim with this purpose, the album does not merely stick to one idea or the other. “Minds of Love,” with its ’60s harpsichord-esque midsection, Mellotron drone and watery lead vocal over more drums and tambourine, finds its own balance between elements, coming down somewhat from “Return as Light” and “Emerald Sands” even as it crafts a multi-tiered hook of its chorus and keys.
This leads into “Seventh Seal,” which ends side A, and is the first of two songs over six minutes long — the other is the side B finale, “The Messianic Rule,” so there’s an intentional play for a vinyl structure evident as well as a general tightening of the songwriting throughout — which is a mellow roll marked by guitar-as-sitar-or-maybe-that’s-just-sitar-oh-who-the-hell-knows and a breadth of vocal echo over the hypnotic but not overly repetitive rhythm, executing a linear build that finds payoff in melody as well as its overarching fullness.
That in itself is something Lamp of the Universe has never done quite to the degree as on The Akashic Field, and in answering with “Descendants” — even after a platter flip — Williamson leaves nothing to question as to the aim toward incorporating a heavy rock feel. “Descendants” could be the work of a revived Datura or Arc of Ascent, but it says much that Williamson has chosen to present it on his own under the guise of Lamp of the Universe.
It is new territory being actively claimed by the project — “now I can do this like this” — and though it’s done thanks in part to the practicalities of Williamson expanding his production setup as discussed in a recent interview here, that does nothing to lessen the accomplishment that either “Descendants” or “Minds of Love” before or the ensuing shimmer of “Re-Ascension” represent. It may (or may not) be backward flute-Mellotron making its impression in “Re-Ascension,” but that comes after an initial guitar line that, by Lamp of the Universe standards, is relatively busy, and a break to open-space for contrast. Immediately the message is reinforced that The Akashic Field, and thus Lamp of the Universe itself, can be all of these things.
Which leaves the closing duo of “Mystic Circle” and “The Messianic Rule” to round out, and it should say something that the former, which is a mellow, sitar-led and minimally-percussed stretch most reminiscent of ‘traditional’ Lamp of the Universe fare, is by virtue of being so a sonic outlier among these surroundings, which also highlighting the effect of Williamson‘s voice in pulling and holding the entire release together.
Calling the sole presence of a solo-project pivotal is redundant — without him there’s no band — but as “Mystic Circle” feeds into the revitalized nod of “The Messianic Rule” and The Akashic Field hits its moment of last summation on a meld of buzzsaw lead guitar and molten, languid rhythmic backing, the underlying sense of creative design is even more apparent. In whatever manner or order the album was pieced together, however the songs happened as they did, the final result is that The Akashic Field has a classic LP-style flow, brought to bear with the confidence of one who’s been making records alone for as long as Williamson has even as one can note increased confidence in vocals, drums and keyboard arrangements.
Lamp of the Universe has not stopped and seemingly will not stop growing, and whatever path Williamson takes with the project after The Akashic Field, the ground he treads is only richer for his having done this work. A great place to start for new listeners willing to be drawn in, and an especially bold statement in context.
Lamp of the Universe, “Return as Light” official video
Lamp of the Universe, “Descendants” official video
Lamp of the Universe on Facebook
Lamp of the Universe on Bandcamp
Projection Records on Bandcamp
Tags: Hamilton, Headspin Records, Lamp of the Universe, Lamp of the Universe The Akashic Field, New Zealand, Projection Records, The Akashic Field
