If The Band, and The Mamas and the Papas had a love child, they would be called Babe Rainbow, the sixties-inspired, psychedelic Rock Australian band. Buffalo Springfield and the Beatles are close god-parents.
From Byron Bay, New South Wales Australia, hail four bandmates: Angus Dowling, Jack "Cool-Breeze" Crowther, Lu-Lu-Felix Domingo and Elliot O’Reilly, to bring back the sixties to you, with surf-culture imagery. Formed in 2014, they released their first single that same year, called “Evolution 1964.” They released in total, as of 2021, four studio-length albums: their self-titled debut in 2017, The Babe Rainbow, followed by Double Rainbow in 2018, Today in 2019, and Changing Colours very recently. Although they are primarily defined as a psychedelic rock band, their latest work veer more into soft rock, with Latin American influences, as band member Lu-Lu-Felix Domingo is originally from Venezuela.
In 2020, the band released their singles, “The Wind” and “Zeitgeist,” both now featured in their newest album. The album Changing Colours, started taking form in Topanga Canyon with producer Kyle Mullarky, and the band returned to Byron Bay's The Music Farm studio with producer Wayne Connelly to finish it.
Prior to the album’s release, “Your Imagination” ft. Jaden Smith was released as a single earlier this year, alongside a beautiful dream-like video.
If I could describe what it is like to listen to this album, I’d have to paint you the following picture.
Imagine yourself on the beach, the waves crashing, the smell of sunscreen mixed with white sand, and the setting sun shining its fiery-coloured rays on you. The white foam making its way to your toes, tickling you softly, and a grin erupting on your face. You close your eyes, lay yourself on the formerly scorching hot sand, and feel yourself sink into it as you finally relax.
Not to say that some tracks don’t get you banging your head all over the place, and shaking your bum to the beat of the Babe Rainbow’s drum and guitar riffs—especially songs like “Rainbow Rock,” “Ready for Tomorrow” and “New Zealand Spinach.”
For that mellow feeling of serenity, I suggest listening “Zeitgeist,” “Thinking Like A River,” and especially “Curl Free,” where the song quite literally starts with the sound of waves settling on the shore, and seagulls flying overhead.
As concert venues open back up, will the Australian beach breeze grace Montreal one day? One can only cross their fingers in hopes.