The Third Eye

Anandammide is a psychedelic folk project based in Paris led by the Italian singer-songwriter Michele Moschini. The project released a wonderfully weird record of what they call Utopian Psych Folk in early April called EURA, which I’ve been enjoying over the past week or so.

Anandammide started in Paris, where Michele has lived since 2007. Michele comes from the Italian rock, prog, and psychedelic scene, where he’s been the singer of an Italian progressive band called Floating State for a decade. In 2018, he gathered a few musicians from a British-French community orchestra to form Anandammide.

The group’s debut record, Earthly Paradise, was acclaimed by critics, including Rolling Stone France, who wrote in 2021 that it was a record of “rare orchestral richness.” The new album, EURA, features musicians from France, Italy, England, and Sweden, most of whom also appeared on Earthly Paradise.

EURA is less acoustic than the first record; the medieval and baroque influences are less present, and the lyrics abandon existential speculations to focus on man’s ability to self-destruct. “Even the search for love loses its meaning, but the four-eyed girl from a late Sixties drawing by Dino Buzzati hung on the wall in the parents’ house remains the symbol of the ideal woman. Her name is EURA,” the band told me.

While Anandammide says the medieval influences are less present on EURA, I could still detect them. It’s a lovely psychedelic folk record that feels like an absolute blast from the past, calling up in my mind the names of earlier-era psychedelic folksters like Donovan, Pentangle, and Vashti Bunyan.

EURA is a decidedly trans-European project with musicians from all over the continent. However, many songs feel English at their core, probably because of English-accented vocals on most tracks. The addition of a synthesizer brings a more modern edge to most songs, too, which fits beautifully with stringed instruments like acoustic guitar and cello.

Psychedelic folk fans should love EURA by Anandammide. It’s a subgenre that doesn’t get much attention these days, but Anandammide proves plenty of musicians are doing it well. If you enjoy EURA, check out Anandammide’s debut LP, Earthly Paradise. I believe both records are available only on Bandcamp, so head to the site to support them. Enjoy!

Check out EURA by Anandammide on Bandcamp here.

Support Anandammide by finding them on Bandcamp or social media (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook).

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