Causa Sui – Causa Sui (Nasoni) Released 10/01/06

At the start of each year, when the tastemakers make their predictions over who they feel will enjoy success, there are always proposed new movements, making stars of bands whose music follows that particular trend. One perhaps ill-fated prediction was that 2006 would see the resurgence of 1970s psychedelic rock, complete with five-minute guitar jams, barely audible vocals and songs that seem to go nowhere. One of bands mentioned in this particular prediction was Causa Sui, a four-piece from Denmark (not exactly a hotbed for new music), whose eponymous debut manages to be totally out of sync with pretty much everything successful at the moment (there are no choppy new-wave guitars here, or lyrics quoting "montagues or capulets”).

Evoking the likes of Hawkwind, Led  Zeppelin and even the more indulgent aspects of Hendrix, this is 'rawk' very much only for those who like that sort of thing. Though the album only contains seven tracks, most of them are pretty long – ‘El Paroiso’ and closing track ‘Working Of The Great Blue Swells’ both manage to clock in at over 12 minutes – often segueing into each other, building a dark tension slowly. The exception to this is ‘Lellani’, the shortest track here at the more conventional three and half minutes, which has an almost mystical subcontinent feel to it, achieved mainly through the use of a sitar.

The songs here – both in their length and style – begin to wear a little after a while, but there is something a little refreshing about Causa Sui’s unashamedly retro style, and at their worst they’re still more refreshing than yet another set of sub-Franz or Libs bandwagon jumpers.