Yay!, by Motorpsycho (2024)

1.

1 - Cold & Bored (Sæther) 4:00it had to be realit had to be trueit had to be full of life and not just stuffmade up cheap and sold on dear to foolsit had to be youit had to be meit had to be all it could and given freeshared by all - transient like dreamswhen i needed a mirror toowe used to be goodwe used to be coolwe used to be beautiful and full of lifethe next in line - princes of the nightthe promise was realbut not the appealthe fame and the fortune and the crummy dealsempty lies, opportunities lost - all in the mirrorcold and bored - does it sound like a promise i once gave to you?cold and bored - I'm so sorry I couldn't deliver the truthcold and bored - does it sound like a promise i once gave to you?cold and bored - I'm so sorry I couldn't deliver the truthcold and bored ...

2.

2 - Sentinels (Sæther) 4:21there's ghosts aroundalive with half-done business in this townyou feel their soundtheir presence swathes the city like a gownthere's ghosts aroundthey're guardians of the soulthe conscience and controlinfused with city stories they remainthere's ghosts aroundyou feel their sadness floating on the breezein the air and in the groundthey are forever herein the aether, in the spheresinfused with city stories they remaineffervescentdark quintessenceliving city stories they remain

3.

3 - Patterns (Sæther) 5:10those empty pagespromise unknownthose endless hoursno words of your ownthe well has run drythere's not a drop leftnothing remains to slake that thirstpatterns that once were newnow all seem so dullnot much to offercontent to carry onon a couch ever softerstifling yet a yawnthe well has run drythere's not a drop leftnothing remains to slake that thirstpatterns that once were newnow all seem so dullyou're passing the batonfaded & withdrawnthe well has run drythere's not a drop leftnothing remains to slake that thirstpatterns that once were newnow all seem so dulldays are all too noisynights never long enoughyou only seem to want tovanish with a puff....

4.

4 - Dank State (Sæther) 3:18what a welcome airing of the cupboardsthey finally got the vermin outah, to see accountability restoredtruth might finally come outDank State, you have been ejected - now please go awayfailed ambition we have seen your faceand your plays - how sweet it is to see you on your waythe spell is broken altogetherthe veil has lifted from our eyeswe are at the end of an errorfed up with conspiracies and liesDank State, you have been rejected - now we know your waysfailed ambition we have seen your faceand your plays - how sweet it is to see you on your way

5.

5 - W.C.A. (Sæther) 4:15so what do we look tofor hints of what we'll need todo, when this is over at long long last?there's no going backwardsbut so many factorsall conspire to keep us dumb and in the darkwhat comes after - I couldn't even begin to tellwhat comes after - what will remain and what will have gone to hell?a palpable tension,without comprehension:from utter detachment to full-on panic attacksan endless mutationor progress and stagnation?there is no telling and there’s no going backwhat comes after - i couldn't even begin to tellwhat comes after - what will remain and what will have gone?giant steps - a quantum leap to greet a new day dawningscared and closed or prepped and primed to get the 20s roaringonce again?what comes after - I couldn't even begin to tellwhat comes after - what will remain and what will have gone to hell?

6.

6 - Real Again (Norways shrugs and stays home) (Sæther) 3:02another place another timeit might've worked out and we'd all been finebut we engineered our own downfallwe citizens of the global sprawlit didn't take much to stumble and fallnot much at allnow we're hanging out in different roomsall pretending to cherish meetings on Zoomsupposed to strengthen all our tiesbut your faces all seem demoralizedI can see the light growing dim in your eyesyou're in your room and I'm in minewe're both dreaming of another timewhen someday soon we'll meet againand then maybe we all can hug our friendsand be real again

7.

7 - Loch meaninglessness & the Mull of Dull (Sæther) 2:54did you ever think she'd find you?was there ever a real chance?the blank stares and the silence and the hiding ...a tight knot, and a long shotlost, you never was a finderand you never went a'searchin' on your ownbut she got through - she found youi bet you thought you were the only onei bet you thought it was too latebut in your heart, the special onein your heart, the only onewaited there for you

8.

8 - Hotel Daedalus (Sæther) 7:46it's hard to see the way out of the maze right nowstumbling round like drunks in the fog, and wondering whyno road seems to lead where the signs sayand it's ever harder to find a wayto put it all behind us, to be strong and to move on:to find our new songsome days feel much darker than they did beforewhen I'm not really certain I can do this anymoreeaten by this life that we chosethe cheap hotels and fancy studiosthe drugs don't seem to be of much use at allanymorethe old hotel is empty, all the guests have gonethere will be a long night ahead before the dawnquietly it sits there on the slope,nothing left but memories, ghosts and hopebut the band is still there and it's playing on

9.

9 - Scaredcrow (Sæther) 1:49instrumental

10.

10 - The Rapture (Sæther) 5:28days are getting longer and summertime is just a breath awaythe snow is finally letting go at last - it's just there sulking in the shadeI hear the first birds in the trees, they sing about their lust, their want and needsand how wintertime is dying and now finally will fadeinto oblivion, where seasons past will always go to die.they know their time is up, and shuffle off and wave bye-bye.there’s logic here that none can denythe moment's almost here: when the madness grips the spheresand every single molecule takes off into the skythe sunlight turns the heat up another 5 degrees or soyou feel the heat pervade your bones and warm your souland put a spring into your step wherever you may gothe day wakes up, the air keeps getting cleareryou skip between the puddles on your wayyou hum a tune and make your way - it's a beautiful beautiful day'cause soon it’ll be over, soon we'll be free againand all the kings pretty horses couldn't pull us back there again!I'll stand and I'll be counted, I'll stand up and I'll shout out loudand live it like I never did and hold my head up prouddays are getting longer, summer's almost hereI thank my guardian angels we survived another year.when summer rolls around again I'm gonna lay my head back in the grassand count my blessings one by one, and hope it won't be my last

After a series of epic, sprawling and headphones-friendly albums, Motorpsycho is back with a short, reasonably pop-formatted and intimate album of mainly acoustically based songs. For once playing the game instead of trying to reinvent it, this 10-song album of tunes is clearly a reaction in some way to too much architecture and too many grand visions, and dials the music down to more comprehensive and digestible sizes than have been the band's métier lately.

Motorpsycho have always been about the balance between hard and soft, electric and acoustic, big and small, light and shade … and now the time was right for a lighter touch to balance the scales. Yang to the Yin of earlier, more epic works (N.O.X., The Crucible, and Chariot Of The Sun), this is also an album that is relatively easy on the ears, and that actually works really well with a cup of tea at noon.

Yay! was produced by Reine Fiske and Lars Fredrik Swahn (Dungen, Melody’s Echo Chamber, The Amazing et al), and their production work brings a sweet Swedish psych edge to the album, giving it a lysergic tinge and charging what could easily have been a bit too ‘’backporchy'' with an electric vibe that lifts it out of the often staid singer/songwriter genre, but still keeping the intimacy intact.

While as ever clearly drawing on inspiration from late 60s/early 70s heroes, Yay! is as indebted to earlier iterations of Motorpsycho as anything else, and will be recognizable to fans of vintage Motorpsychodelia as well as a breath of fresh air to newer Psychonauts that only ever heard the heavy progressive side of the band.

Reactions ranging from ‘WTF?’ to ‘Finally!’ are expected. Use your ears!

Keeping things unpredictable and weird since 1989, there is only one Motorpsycho.