SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE - School Of The Flower

Ben Chasny has developed a taste for it.

Not content with his full-time work in Comets On Fire, he keeps churning out album after album under the moniker Six Organs Of Admittance; this is the seventh since 1998, the year of the fine self-titled debut.

All this prolificacy hasn't exactly done Chasny any favors, at least in terms of originality. While nearly all his previous releases boast a very high average quality, they share the flaw of settling into the same kind of sound.

I'll let you know upfront that this "School Of The Flower", his first record for an underground "major" like Drag City, follows the same trend.

In other words, it offers nothing new in the psych-folk field, even though the quality of the songwriting is considerable.

For the occasion, the Californian guitarist is joined on organ and percussion by Chris Corsano, the esteemed English multi-instrumentalist who has already worked with the likes of Nmperign's Greg Kelley, O'Rourke and Tony Conrad, to name a few.

"School Of The Flower" acts as something of a bridge between Chasny's various sides, alternating drone-based, Eastern-tinged psychedelia with simple acoustic folk-blues. And it's the balance between these sketches, which at times recall the touching sincerity of Kaukonen's "Quah", and the more expansive compositions that is the record's winning card.

"All You've Left" is a tender declaration of love for simplicity, the most delicate thing Chasny has ever done. Keeping it company are the dreamy "Thicker Than A Smokey" and "Lisbon", the latter decidedly more Fahey-esque and contemplative.

In between, it's still the great curmudgeon, but in his most experimental and visionary guise. "Words For Two", with guitar repeating a handful of chords against a menacing backdrop of organ, and "Saint", more or less along the same lines but with the addition of an electric guitar tracing unsettling arabesques.

"Procession Of Cherry Blossom Spirits Home", on the other hand, is sunnier, though tinged with nostalgia - the record's campfire song.

And then there's the title track, to which the same points made earlier about "Words For Two" and "Saint" apply. The differences lie in the track's length, stretching out to 13 minutes, and in the presence of percussion.

Corsano's work, geared towards improvisation, is indeed excellent.

The album flows pleasantly, its length isn't excessive (around 43 minutes), so there's certainly no risk of getting bored; if anything, this could serve as a good introduction to the recent wave of psych-folk revivalism, suitable even for those who aren't overly fond of the genre.

It's not the best album from the Six Organs project (that honor goes to the self-titled debut), but it's a decidedly well-balanced and enjoyable production.

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30/04/2026