After twenty-five years of psych-rock weirdness and transcontinental transmissions from Toronto to Trinidad, Chlorine Dream return with Not For Long, their eighth album. Out August 15th on their own Chaos Disorder Recordings, the new record fuses art rock, experimental textures, progressive flourishes, and deep psychedelia into ten mind-bending tracks.
The return of drummer Ryan Richardson (his first appearance since 2019’s Perpetual Silence) is a thunderous highlight, joined by a revolving door of percussion co-conspirators: Jeff Alls, Malcolm Obery, and Bojan Elez all pound away like they’re raising Bonham’s ghost.
Musically, Not For Long is grimier and swampier than their last few acid-fried excursions. There’s real dirt under these fingernails: rootsy riffs, backwoods blues snarl, and a muggy atmosphere.
Visually, they’ve gone entirely off the rails. The video for “The Lost Wisdom of the Ages,” is like a Scooby-Doo-on-DMT cartoon where the band bumbles through spectral mysteries baked out of their skulls. It’s hilarious, prophetic, and profoundly weird.
On the new record, Blake McCluskey (vocals, guitars, bass, piano) leads the psychic caravan, joined by Myles O’Brien’s guitars, drums, and vocals, Dave McCluskey’s keys, bass, and harmonica, Cesco Emmanuel’s guitar textures, and that madcap drum collective.
The album kicks off with “One Afternoon,” exploding from the speakers with a filthy, blues-drenched riff that hooks you immediately. As the track winds down, it morphs into a trance-like instrumental section where your head will nod, and your mind might just drift somewhere higher.
“The Lost Wisdom of the Ages” cranks up the grit, leaning into distorted vocals and heavy, muscular guitar riffs that channel classic rock’s raw power without ever sounding like mere homage.
One of the biggest curveballs arrives with the title track, a short, melancholic ballad built around delicate acoustic guitar and a haunting, tender vocal delivery, a rare moment of quiet reflection amidst the chaos.
From there, “1000 Ways” swaggers in with a dirty blues stomp, complete with harmonica wails and searing slide guitar lines that conjure visions of midnight juke joints. “Part Time Lover” changes the mood again, drifting into sun-soaked, Beatles-esque territory, radiating warmth and breezy charm.
Then Chlorine Dream hit the gas with “Through a Glass Darkly,” returning to driving guitars and their signature space-prog energy. The brief but blistering “Gratitude Adjustment” delivers a quick jab of adrenaline, all testosterone-fueled riffs and pyrotechnic fretwork.
Finally, “Take Me Home” closes the record on an ecstatic high, like the Allman Brothers jamming in a nebula. It’s a rootsy, soulful cut refracted through a kaleidoscope, merging Southern rock warmth with psychedelic colors, a perfect cosmic curtain call.
Overall, Not For Long is a shape-shifting record from Chlorine Dream, a band unafraid to veer from hard-edged psych to soul-baring ballads. While their confidence roars loudest in the riff-driven moments, it’s the quieter detours that reveal surprising depth and emotional range.
If you dig the new record, check out the rest of Chlorine Dream’s work, which dates back to 2003’s Mental Weather. This is an underground psych band that has been producing quality music for some time.
Bandcamp pre-orders for Not For Long by Chlorine Dream aren’t up yet, but you can keep track by finding their Bandcamp page here.
You can also find the band on YouTube and X.
This piece was created as part of The Third Eye’s priority submissions program.
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