ESP Summer - Kingdom Of Heaven

Clear Vinyl with poster insert.

First released as a lathe cut in Japan last year and now granted a wider release via London imprint Disciples, Kingdom of Heaven sees former Pale Saint Ian Masters and Warren Defever of His Name is Alive combine as ESP Summer for a wholesale reimagining of the 13th Floor Elevators song of the same name. Technically there's four different versions of the title track, though the results are considerably more impressive and far wider in scope than that would suggest. The opener, the only track, somewhat tellingly, to adopt the 13th Floor Elevators' title, is the straightest arrow the pair shoot, a shoegaze-indebted, very much 4AD orientated interpretation. From that point on, the original serves merely as an anchor to which the pair are drawn back to as they journey into a wholly different space, incorporating drone, acid-folk, space-rock, psych, and even cosmic jazz. Taken together it's a headtrip befitting of the Elevators mythology, though special mention has to be reserved for the closer, Space, a 15 minute long outer-world excurision that ocassionally sees Masters gravitate back to the original melody but most obviously calls to mind Defever's early drone work, as it spirals off into a fog-drenched bliss, ala Flying Saucer Attack's November Mist. A devestating piece of music, on its own worthy of the price of admission. Not a covers record by any conventional notional standard.