CAUSA SUI - From The Source

Having set aside the clamor raised by psychedelia's grey eminences like Julian Cope and the five-star reviews from some fairly prominent publications, Causa Sui have never let down their most loyal fans. Across a series of albums with mixed fortunes, the Danish band have skillfully navigated between the psychedelic rock of Hawkwind, certain post-Jimi Hendrix, hard-blues sounds, fragments of kraut-rock and cosmic music suited to the jam-session amalgam of their live performances.

Fans' attention has, however, gradually waned, pushing the band to the margins of public and critical interest. Yet it would be unfair to deny their latest album, “From The Source”, the recognition it deserves, however belated given the ever-growing volume of records being released these days.

Twenty years after their debut, the Danish band seems to have rediscovered the essential energy to remain firmly anchored to an erosive, fluid sound that remains powerful above all in its live dimension.

The triptych that opens the first side confirms Causa Sui's attitude as performers: the album was recorded direct-to-tape, nearly twenty-three minutes of free-form music sliding between fine blends of progressive and stoner-rock filtered through psychedelia ("Sorcerer's Disciple"), blues accents skillfully expanded by post-rock and jazz flows ("Dusk Dwellers"), and a darker, heavier, shrewdly obsessive sound ("The Spot"), which set the stage for the wonders of the record's second side.

"From The Source" is an album with every reason to be split into side A and side B, as was the custom in the 1970s. One of the sides (in this case the second) is occupied by a single long track that serves as the record's true nerve center. "Visions Of A New Horizon" is without doubt one of the finest compositions in the Danes' twenty-year career: the interplay between more descriptive, melodic passages and furious hard-rock-psych excursions borders on perfection, both technically and emotionally — a suite built on seven well-defined sections that evolve progressive sounds into more abrasive tones with the guitar front and center, before giving way to one of the album's most evocative moments, where the sound of the mellotron reigns supreme, an instrument that sets the course for the suite's subsequent phases.

The succession of more reflective moments and granite-hard rock riffs that animates the twenty-four minutes of "Visions Of A New Horizon" is the result of a renewed creative drive involving every member of the band. Causa Sui's psychedelic rock is genuine and invigorating, vibrant and visceral, far removed from the routine that has characterized some of the Danish band's past albums.

Whether this is a rebirth or just a fleeting moment of grace remains to be seen, but "From The Source" is a record that skillfully keeps routine out of the picture. Denying it attention would be neither fair nor sensible.

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15/02/2025