The Plum Magnetic

Diversity and synergy is the name of the game as far as the New Orleans based band, The Plum Magnetic, are concerned. Their latest largely instrumental album, ‘Terra Animata’ is testament to their purposeful quest to create harmonious soundscapes that blend together different musical genres and influences from around the world, compressed and compacted into neat compositions.

Melodious and different, ‘Terra Animata’ experiments with structure, balance and overall sound to incite emotions and feelings from the listener. In many respects, it is very shoegaze material, promoting deep thinking through a heady potion of rock, folk, reggae, jazz and even Indian classical music with rapping, rolling tablas ever-present. No two songs are alike but each is imaginative, multifaceted and mellifluously expressive.

When listening to this album, you get a Grateful Dead type psychedelic nuance as well as several other comparisons to groups like Talking Heads and Bela Fleck and the Fleckstones. The lengthy orchestral compositions deliver tempo and variation that keeps listeners on their toes, never quite knowing exactly what to expect next or in which direction a particular song is going to go. The Plum Magnetic’s ‘Terra Animata’ at least shows that incongruous musical types fused together with artistic mastery can actually work to provide inspiringly original material.