I don't know what the vibe is like where you're at, but Toronto is coming off record-high temperatures and the election of yet another right-wing government for another four years. What I mean is that I'm in the mood to relax, and Captain Planet has the remedy. A walking "Recommended Vinyl" section from the best record store you've ever been to, the Captain has crafted a tribute to funky, left-field psychedelic traditions from around the world in "Mirage," his new song featuring Taj Bethel. A lazy river percussive pace gives the song's centerpiece — its wonderfully meditative guitar licks — room to wrap us in its warm embrace.
Here's Captain Planet on the song:
After touring around the world playing "club music" for so many years, and being recognized for big heavy bass tunes, the idea for this whole EP was to move toward more organic jamming with friends and fam, similar to how I first fell in love with making music as a teenager. The same sounds that inspired me to start digging for records as a kid are often the things I still play the most when I'm at home. Most of the time it's old vinyl gems from the 70's that I put on. With "Mirage", it was nice to be doing this with my youngest brother, who I've been sharing music with since he was a baby. We listened to some records together, talked about a feeling and scene we wanted to create, and then he came up with some incredible ideas on the first try.
For his part, Bethel delivered perhaps the most haunting quote attached to a song premiere that I've read in some time: "We ended up creating what sounds, to my ear, like the internal dialogue of someone who is desperate for water, but has been holding a glass the entire time." Damn. I'm going to hold my head in my hands for ~20 minutes, but you can listen to the song below.