Around 2019, a psychedelic band called White Canyon & The 5th Dimension began emerging from a rural part of Brazil and floating into the online music scene. They released a terrific self-titled debut album that year, and they’ve since followed up with several more, including last year’s Gardener’s of The Earth (which we listed as one of the best of 2023).
Like many of the bands we cover here at The Third Eye, White Canyon and The 5th Dimension come from humble circumstances and take an even more humble approach to recording and making music. They are essentially a husband-and-wife duo comprised of Léo Gudan and Gabriela Zaith, who live in Sao Thome Das Letras, Brazil, which is hours away from any major Brazilian cities.
In multiple interviews, Léo states there’s not much of a music scene in Brazil for bands making original compositions. Essentially, most Brazilian bands play cover music for tourists at bars.
In that sense, White Canyon & The 5th Dimension set themselves apart in their home country, along with another veteran Brazilian psych-rock band, Firefriend. White Canyon eventually gathered enough musicians to play live shows and tours, putting out a live record in 2023 called Live in El Quisco.
Thus far, White Canyon has released full-length albums in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023, which makes me think new music from the band could be coming this year. That would be a welcome surprise. I’ve been diving deeper into their discography lately, especially their self-titled 2019 debut record. The Black Angels’ comparisons are appropriate, and so are, of course, the comparisons to the Angels’ primary influence, The Velvet Underground.
White Canyon rocks when they want to on the debut record, on tracks like “Love Witch,” which combine swirling guitars with Doors-like keys. Other songs are desert night-crawlers, such as “Bardo Mountain,” with the vocals pushed far back in the mix and the psych-meets-blues guitar slinking ominously. As has become custom on many White Canyon records, the self-titled debut begins with an atmospheric intro on “Silver Bird” that sets the lysergic mood for the rest of the album.
They are a band that knows how to craft a sumptuous, textured soundscape, and “Silver Bird” is top evidence of this. “Holy Place” ends the record with a meaner guitar tone but just as much emphasis on a mix of different sounds. This is a record that brings new discoveries with each new listen.
Maybe because of the pastoral landscape where they live, White Canyon’s thematic elements are very much tied to nature and the metaphysical as it expresses itself in the natural world. This always fits well in psychedelic music, and the band fixates on it in a way that doesn’t feel forced. Hopefully, we’ll get a new record from this husband-and-wife duo in 2024. But if not, they’ve given us plenty of music lately to enjoy.
Check out White Canyon & The 5th Dimension’s debut record on Bandcamp here.
You can support White Canyon & The 5th Dimension by finding them on Bandcamp or social media (Facebook, Instagram).
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