‘Third Eye Temple’ has been an interesting listening experience. First of all, it brought me back to Santana, who I had not listened to in a long while. Secondly, it’s a breath of fresh air in the current music landscape, delivering material that’s eclectic, elegant and eloquently informed. Taking inspiration from a wide variety of sources of references, the album ends up being a lightened blend of psychedelia, art-rock and even Latin matter, greatly focusing on Tyler Kamen’s nuanced guitar playing.
In fact, that’s a priority for the American musician: “I wanted to focus on clean and focused guitar on this record”, he explains. Mission complete: gems such as ‘Charming Skin Snake’ reeks of Santana’s melodic prowess, yet the vocals in it are pretty ethereal and forward-thinking, perhaps in the realm of King Crimson-esque possibilities. ‘Those Roads of Old’ takes up a different direction, finding solace in folk-rock and nostalgic 70s stylings. Title track ‘Third Eye Temple’ is one of the album’s strongest episodes, from a songwriting standpoint, thanks to a mellow, catchy chorus that is as power-pop as they come.
Guitar solos are frequent and copious but never rude or cliché. Kamen’s phrasing is completely at the service of the song, keeping faith in the bigger picture rather than in self-serving techniques. What’s more, all instruments have been performed by Tyler himself! Shining a light on the reasoning behind the record, he declares: “This album as a whole was also a departure from my past few releases that had more of a prog rock style, so I was excited to make something different.”
Recommended! Discover ‘Third Eye Temple’ on Spotify:
