Fever the Ghost - Zirconium Meconium (2015)

Transmitting cosmic narratives and inventive song structures, Fever The Ghost’s sprawling pop saga Zirconium Meconium sleekly marries the group’s esoteric tendencies with an inescapable melodicism. Described by the band as a "collection of songs musically interpreting the third dimensional integration process from the perspective of vital force energy incarnating into the physical world" – the album’s title offers a little more insight to the band’s eccentric proclamation.

Zirconium is known as a stone of balance referring to the physical, emotional and spiritual. Meconium is the earliest stool of a mammalian infant. In plainer terms, the title highlights the album’s organic creation process, combining interstellar vibrations and a sense of youthful wonder into into an unparalleled pop sound. The album’s introduction “Metempsychosis” (meaning the supposed transmigration at death of the soul into a new body of the same or a different species), sets the ominous tone for the journey before giving way to the riffing stomp of “Rounder II” showcasing Fever The Ghost’s aversion verse-chorus structure and uncanny ability to synthesize glam/psych/kraut rock, groove-based music, and experimental electronic sounds with radio friendly hooks into addicting sci-fi pop.

Lush moments on the album, like “Sun Moth” and “Peace Crimes” soar with entrancing atmospheres, while “Vervain (Dreams of an Old Wooden Cage)” and “Fathoms” strike a dynamic balance between the delicate and raucous. Fever The Ghost steps out even further into new territory on the catchy “1518,” meshing their signature elements into dance structures. “Equal Pedestrian” sonically tips its hat to the whimsical electro-pop spirit of Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Zirconium Meconium comes on the heels of the Crab In Honey EP, which received much adulation from critics and peers alike. Fever The Ghost’s genuinely weird (and weirdly accessible) sound sinks its hooks into you deeper each successive listen. In just the last year, the Los Angeles-based band has toured extensively with the likes of The Flaming Lips, Sean Lennon, and a recently wrapped east coast run with Temples. The band also contributed to last year’s Beatles’ tribute A Little Help From My Fwends, curated by Wayne Coyne.

“Listening to this Fever The Ghost record [Zirconium Meconium]...it sounds like Rush making a version of Satanic Majesties Request...Only yeah, it’s 1968 and The Rolling Stones don’t make Satanic Majesties Request - Rush do...this Fever The Ghost record, like them, is just not of this dimension. I can't tell why they are doing what they are doing. They are maybe meant to actually be a video game and accidentally became a futuristic rock group. Or they are a cartoon that is animated so good you can’t tell they’re not real.” – Wayne Coyne.