The Third Eye

The Daisy Chain is a Belfast-based musical project which, in the studio, consists entirely of clones of 23-year-old Rhys Mayes. I think Rhys was joking when he told me this, but you can never be sure, right? Rhys makes a jumbled mishmash of psychedelic pop and country music characterized by Sixties-inspired instrumentation and low-fi, carefree production ideals.

“The Daisy Chain doesn’t set out to create a polished production, but rather a jarring and heartfelt forgery of Rhys Mayes’ favorite music, such as The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Beach Boys, and Ros Sereysothea,” Rhys says. 

Rhys’ production team of clones is releasing a new single called “LifeTo” on October 6, 2023, from the project’s upcoming album, Take a Look at All the Houses. “LifeTo” is an unambiguous tale of unfulfilled self-discovery Rhys wrote more than two years ago. The title refers to the protagonist’s ease of envisioning the perfect life for themselves and their struggle to make it a reality.

The single comes with a B-Side called “Sacrifice Your Creativity,” a Cambodian-psychedelic-inspired track that highlights the challenges of balancing the instability of a music career with working a monotonous day job. Oh, how I can relate to that! Though I’m not a musician, I wish I could do The Third Eye full-time, but I’m often too busy with adulting and my full-time work.

The Daisy Chain Live Performance Group (which Rhys says is the gig-based arm of his “organization”) has begun to include “LifeTo” as a centerpiece of their live shows. Rhys says the song has become a fan favorite, and they’ve incorporated an extended climactic outro section crafted carefully by his band members.

As we mentioned, “LifeTo” will drop on October 6th, and the new album will be released on November 17th. The Daisy Chain’s self-titled debut album was released in 2021 if you’d like to check it out in the meantime.

“LifeTo” is a relaxing psychedelic pop song on the shorter side (just over three minutes) with a dreamy lo-fi quality. There are also touches of indie twang in the guitar tones, which give the track a cosmic country vibe. 

The B-Side – “Sacrifice Your Creativity” – is much sillier and even shorter at less than three minutes. “Writing songs is easy/three chords in everything I make/But if you have a day job/Those songs will have to wait,” Rhys sings. It’s a common struggle for all creatives, which is why artistically utopian communes sometimes become so popular. The track is fun and ultra-goofy.

Here’s a look at upcoming new album’s tracklist:

1. Holibobs
2. Postcards & Pictures
3. Space Odyssey
4. The Dirty War
5. Royal Victoria Rag
6. LifeTo
7. Tellin’ Me the Truth
8. You Aint Playin’ with Me
9. Hopkins Lament

We can’t share with you the new single and B-Side, so take a listen to this song from The Daisy Chain’s debut album below:

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