GospelbeacH – ‘The Dropouts (Parts One and Two) ‘ (from ‘Wiggle Your Fingers’ LP)

Five years on from 2019’s wonderful ‘Let It Burn’, California’s GospelbeacH return with another album of glorious 21st century Cosmic American Music. As with many of my other favourite records these days, ‘The Dropouts’ is the sound of, ahem, older adults seeking some solace in established musical forms whilst meditating on the complexities of doing so. In other words, taking musical templates created by/for youth and grappling with how to transfigure it for advancing adulthood. GospelbeacH grapple with the complexities of the challenges better than many, and ‘The Dropouts’ is finer than most as a result. Evidence that one can both embrace and reject tradition in the same breath.