Lotus - Free Swim (2020)

Free Swim is the perfect title for the exciting jam band Lotus’ new album, because each of their high energy songs make the listener feel like they are endlessly crawling in a wave of jam adrenaline.

The album begins with the disco beach vibes of ‘Catacombs’, which features blaring synths and a consistent rocking drum beat. The treble effect on the lead guitar adds a smooth feel to the jam in the sand mood. On track two ‘Turtlehead’, the beat slows down just enough into a mesmerizing mellow groove. This song gets its building dance energy from the intense synths.

Next is the title track which continues to add the jammy and groovy vibes to the album. ‘Sepia Rainbow’ follows and calms down the mood of the album with hypnotizing lead guitar rhythms and melodies. On ‘One-Eyed Jones’, the synths reach their maximum level which will bring any dance fan to their feet. The song also features elements of their jam jazz style.

The energy picks up with a faster drumbeat on ‘Bjorn Gets A Haircut’. A lot of Lotus’ music probably appears on a lot of their fans workout playlists as the energy and momentum generated hypes them up. ‘Straight Blade’ transcends listeners to looking out the window on the highway, whilst ‘Earl of Grey’ provides a relaxing relief and a slower tempo to break from the fast paced energy.

‘Snake Island’ picks the listener back up with elements of a Middle Eastern vibe at times in the guitar solos. The album ends on a spacey jammy vibe with ‘Land of the Lush’, a song that creates a peaceful mindset to end the album on, with a serene mood. Although you can’t see this amazing live energy for some time now due to the pandemic, this fresh batch of studio recordings and dancing at home will have to do for now! ~Scott J. Herman