Gonna start this mid-Thursday afternoon with some homegrown psychedelic protest pop from Los Angeles-based DIY artist Morgan Delt. It’s called “The System of 1000 Lies,” and resides somewhere between subliminal nonchalance and vivid intention.
Topping out under three minutes, “The System of a 1000 Lies” is a brief swirl of phased paisley harmonics, aesthetically tripped to kick start the cosmic consciousness, while lodging a casual complaint against the daily dosage of misinformation and deceit. It’s a trip, as we used to say, and it’s slow burn-and-churn voyage washes and wanes in soft, smooth vibrations that hint at layered meaning.
It features soft illusory vocal whispers on sonorous repeat, enunciating the track’s title, while drifting to and fro like a hypnotist’s pendulum – if it was made out of immaterial mist and haze, and left trails of echoes in its wake. The guitars are appropriately fuzzed and phased, delayed and wrapped around Delt’s modulated lyrics like a blanket of phosphorescent light. And the percussion lazily coasts along in the imperceptible background, keeping the momentum lax and unseen, yet always forward.
Delt writes and performs all his own material, and his self-made craft is on full focused display with “The System of 1000 Lies.” His bit of psychedelia feels less like homage, and more like the real deal. Sure, it’s illusory, hallucinatory and mainlined in kaleidoscopic vision, replete with many other descriptive buzzwords to elucidate its singular sensation. But it’s also the inaccessible made audible, plucked from the vapor trails of the mind-altered subconscious and given euphonic form.
And somewhere in the midst of all this, there’s a message, perhaps not overtly rebellious, but certainly bathed in low-key dissention. “The System of 1000 Lies” is a loaded sentiment, even at its most mellifluous mellow. And whatever that might mean is up to you, the listener.
So give this one a shot, and see if Morgan Delt’s “The System of a 1000 Lies” syncs with your psychedelic psyche.
Here’s the YouTube embed, with a scrolling illustration, some text, and the complete tune. It’s not a music video, but it’s not a static image either. Enjoy!
“The System of a 1000 Lies” from the 2016 album “Phase Zero.”
And of course, the Spotify embed …
“The System of a 1000 Lies” from the 2016 album “Phase Zero.”
