GU-RU – Zenith’s Privilege: EP Review

By Mike Ainscoe on 31st March 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

The latest instalment of Psych-Space-Prog from GU-RU comes via a typically colourful, massive and filthy four track assortment.

Release date: 30th April 2021

Label: Independent – Bandcamp

Format: DL / stream / limited CD

We’ve teased a bit of GU-RU in the past. Check out our words on their Acid remix of the Teach Me single (here) or simply scroll down for an earfull.

However, before you take on the latest offering by the acid-psych-tastic trio of Lee Spreadbury (keys, vocals, production), Naomi Perera (flute, vocals) and Malcolm D’Sa (drums), take a moment to admire the boldness of the package. Take a bow Eugene and Vincent Spreadbury who have created a vibrant piece of art to use for Zenith’s Privilege. It’s evidence for the claim that the new EP “has a definite DIY feel.”

So flick the switch and turn onto thoughts of brightness, colour and light and wallow in the ‘Cosmic Electric’. Consider the description that Zenith’s Privilege is about the peak of an experience and the subsequent fall. It’s all about the privilege of being at the top of the mountain, and yet the nagging doubt, the impending tragedy of descent. We all know how sometimes it’s harder coming down than going up. What they call “the diminuendo of life.”

There’s certainly no diminuendo in the music though. You might even argue the opposite as (the almost title track) Zenith lulls us in with a very (very) relaxed vibe. The flute carries the tune while layers of keys add the texture and we’re faced with the idea about how “It breaks my heart to know the ending is near.” Almost bluesy and a rather unexpected melancholy with which to contend. Most solemn in a Procol-y Harum-y sort of way with the grand cathedral-like organ chords that hang and vie with that pastoral flute.

You may be familiar with Teach Me and its Acid mix variant and welcome the chance to strike a pose and tap your feet. The irresistable “tick tock tick tock” and the urge to jump around and wave your hands in the air a la Summer jamboree – come on, teach me. Disco Biscuit picks up the baton ad runs with it. It’s as fun as it sounds. The snippets of flute that hover in the background give the track a feel of Jethro Tull gone on a rampage.

We probably said it before, but if we split for the time tunnel and a trip back to the future, this would be ripe for one of those new-fangled 12″ mix things. Or an Eighties club mix packed with lashings of intergalactic swooshes and cosmic bleeps.

A recorded version of Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein from 1972 that’s been in the live set a while. Some might crave more original music, but GU-RU plant their own stamp on the piece with the flute that brings that inevitable touch of Tull-ness to the fore. A brilliant finale to a quarter-hour of grand and groovy stuff. Don your capes, slap on some glittery face paint and abandon your inhibitions. Velvet loon pants are back in for the Summer of ’21.

Here’s a reminder of the Teach Me single: