The band at the forefront of the UK psychedelic revival take their name from Syd Barratt and Arthur Lee and their inspiration from acid rock's finest.
Greatly inspired by the sonic pioneers of the late 60s and early 70s, Syd Arthur may revel in the music of decades long past but, as psychedelic rock goes, they match the hallucinogenic sounds of modern contemporaries like Wolf People, Black Mountain, Tame Impala – with imaginative, whimsically sweet, melodies.
They seamlessly mix bucolic, retro reveries, devastating blasts of precision controlled riffing, sweeping folk, fleet-fingered mandolin work and a musical vocabulary that’s as fluently conversant with world music as it is the time signature twists of Soft Machine.
Syd Arthur’s intricate, high-energy live sets, which to date include Glastonbury and Secret Garden slots, have resulted in a large underground following. With the benefit of an extra 40 years of popular music culture, WOMAD festivals and the entire world’s musical output at their fingertips, the Psychedelic genre no longer sits, gathering dust, in the decades gone by. Syd Arthur embrace its origins, lodge their feet in the present, and hold up a triumphant head, pointed firmly at the future. Come enjoy the trip.
