Opal
Early Recordings

"Early Recordings," as the name suggests, is a collection of the early recordings by Opal, sourced from the two EPs "Fell From The Sun" and "Northern Line". It is not, therefore, a proper album, but neither is it a simple anthology, as it contains much of the group's material before they made their first and only LP, "Northern Line." Formed in Los Angeles in 1983, Opal came into being through the initiative of ex-Rain Parade guitarist David Roback and ex-bassist of the great Dream Syndicate, Kendra Smith, thus emerging from the ashes of two historic Paisley Underground groups. The group's style partly retraces the slower and more dreamlike Dream Syndicate sound, adding, however, certain Middle Eastern inflections and anticipating a certain psych rock of the '90s, of which Mazzy Star were key players.

The distinctive traits of the band are undoubtedly Smith's voice, which combines Nico's coldness and emotional detachment with the intellectualism of a Ricky Lee Jones, in a spectral register upon which stretch the dreamlike textures of Roback's guitar. Thus are born tender and soporific ballads suspended between blues and country like "Empty Box Blues," "Northern Line," "My Only Friend." "She's A Diamond" is a disturbing psychedelic ballad, "Harriet Brown" could have been written by Bob Dylan on acid, "Hear the Wind Blow" takes us straight back to the '60s. Elsewhere, the group adorns its ethereal psychedelia with Middle Eastern sounds: thus two ragas take shape, such as "Grains Of Sand" and especially "Lullabye," along with the sinuous "Bright On Sunday." "All Souls" is as austere a creation as has been conceived within the psychedelic realm, while "Fell From The Sun" stands out for Roback's guitar distortions that create a hypnotic atmosphere while the rhythm section proceeds at a martial pace. In this album, Roback, among other things, proves to be a great master of psychedelic rock like few have been since the golden age of the '60s.

"Early Recordings" is, in my opinion, an essential record of neo-psychedelia, a milestone of the genre and a source of inspiration for many bands, ranging from Cowboy Junkies to Idaho, to the already mentioned Mazzy Star. An album that creates a very particular atmosphere of inner peace, of nocturnal rural paradises, with beds made of rose petals to sink into, of oases in the desert to stop and rest. Anything but, however, a sunny album.