As the length of daylight each day is practically dwindling into minutes, one of the best things to represent the near-perennial darkness is some sylvan, psychedelic weirdness, exactly the sort of thing that Jess And The Ancient Ones dish out on new album ‘Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes’.

The most notable thing about this Finnish band is how they truly embrace their roots and influence. The nine tracks on this album make up over an hour of hazy swathes of ’70s guitars, while Jess herself alternates between sweet crooning and siren howls on the likes of ‘Goetia Of Love’.

But the fact is that, to the untrained ear, these nine tracks could possibly come off as being exactly the same. Theirs is a formula that works for them, and understandably they’ve stuck to it throughout, but it just doesn’t feel as though there’s enough variation to keep things consistently interesting. Coupled with the fact that this album passes the hour mark, and it’s a collection of songs that certainly outstays its welcome.

Still, psych fans should find a lot to love in the likes of ‘The Flying Man’ and ‘Crossroad Lightning’, even if the casual listener won’t. For those already au fait with this sort of thing, dive right in, but as a jumping off point, ‘The Equinox Tapes’ hardly convinces.

2.5/5

‘Second Psychedelic Coming: The Equinox Tapes’ by Jess and the Ancient Ones is out now on Svart Records.

Jess and the Ancient Ones links: Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp

Words by Luke Nuttall(@nuttall_luke)