Pastoral electronic psych with some languid Latin heat
Who They?
Once Portugal’s best kept secret, the word on Beautify Junkyards has spread well beyond their homeland since last year’s ‘The Beast Shouted Love’ album. The Lisbon six-piece was formed by vocalist and keyboard whizz João Branco Kyron when their aptly named previous incarnation, Hipnótica, who mixed electronics with fusion jazz and folk, expanded both in terms of numbers and sonic ambition.
Why Beautify Junkyards?
Track down a copy of ‘The Beast Shouted Love’ and be captivated by a cosmic, sun-bleached, electronically-layered take on bucolic psychedelia. Heavily influenced by 70s acid-folk pioneers Heron (they share a fondness for recording in the field – hear the cows and birds!), Beautify Junkyards’ transcendental male/female vocal harmonics (part-English, part-Portuguese) and delicate acoustics blend beautifully with darker-hued emotional ambiguity. Think The Incredible String Band, Os Mutantes and José Alfonso shot through with Ash Ra Tempel, Moondog and Broadcast. It’s certainly a beguiling sound palette.
Tell Us More
The band’s many fans include Jim Jupp and Julian House from Ghost Box Records, which happens to be one of João Branco Kyron’s favourite labels. “They release great records and I also like the stimulating and inspiring universe that’s been created around the label,” he says. This mutual appreciation has now resulted in a Beautify Junkyards seven-inch of the mesmerising ‘Constant Flux’ via Ghost Box’s acclaimed Other Voices series. And there’ll be a long-player to follow next year. You heard that here first, friends.
‘Constant Flux’ is out on Ghost Box
