A few minutes too long
Constraining though the 3-minute pop song may be, it has its usefulness — especially when you collect about 12 of them together.
Not that there’s anything wrong with pop songs longer than 3 minutes. Mathematically speaking, 12 x 3 = 36 minutes worth of music, whereas 12 x 5 = 60 minutes worth of music.
The latter offers much bang for the buck — if the songs are worth all five minutes.
And hence the problem with Love Psychedelico’s third album, Love Psychedelico III. The album drags under the weight of its length.
Three of the 13 tracks on the album clock in at less than 5 minutes, but another three clock in a few seconds more than 6 minutes, which cancels each other out.
Length wouldn’t be much of a problem if the album contained really compelling songs, which it doesn’t.
The writing on Love Psychedelico III is just a few degrees shy of Sheryl Crow, despite the fact the band’s unique blend of ’60s rock and ’90s technology remains in tact.
In fact, the chorus of “I am waiting for you” and most of “fleeing star” sound like Crow.
The band’s reliance on drum machines has also locked it into a rhythmically rigid feel. As a result, Love Psychedelico’s songs start blending into each other.
How many more times are we going to listen to Kumi deliver one monotone melody after another?
The longer lengths plus the homogenous writing makes Love Psychedlico III tiring 3/4 of the way through.
Other writers wrote the band off after the second album, but I’m not sure Love Psychedelico’s creative well has totally run dry.
There’s a more overtly southern influence the band hasn’t fully explored, and it may well inject some unpredictability to the duo’s sound.
But Love Psychedelico III finds the pair stuck. And belaboring the point, too.