Psycadelik surprises

The wait will soon be over: Fading Frontier, the sixth album from avant-garde rock outfit Deerhunter arrives Oct. 16 via 4AD. It’s the group’s first release since 2013’s Monomania, and third for the lauded British label that’s home to acts such as the National, Holly Herndon, Ariel Pink, Scott Walker, and others. On Sun. Aug. 16, singer and guitarist Bradford Cox took over the airwaves at WMLB/AM 1690, “The Voice of the Arts,” fumbling through a two-hour show playing various and obscure gospel and pop music from around the world. Cox also revealed Fading Frontier’s first single, “Snakeskin.”

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The song is a propulsive bit of jagged funk and pop tones that collide with a blissfully caustic take on Deerhunter’s sound. The acoustic strumming of steel strings grinding out melodies in a wash of reverberating textures — guided by a swaggering confidence in Cox’s voice — makes for a perfect late summer jam. It’s a sound that has continually refined itself with each passing Deerhunter album.

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Over the last nine years, B.o.B has made it his duty to surprise people as no two albums or mixtapes ever sound the same. With his latest release, Psycadelik Thoughtz, B.o.B’s sneak attack rests on timing as much as it does the music. The album’s Aug. 14 release came as a surprise, and is indeed quite a departure from what he shared during an Oct. 2014 listening session at Mean Streets Studios. “I want to do the shit right,” he adds. “I want to show that I can make a cohesive body of work that has a consistent sound.”

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Teetering the rap/pop line since 2009’s B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray, he went urban on his last album Underground Luxury, confusing fans and casual listeners alike. Psycadelik Thoughtz returns to Bobby Ray form. B.o.B produced all but one of the album’s 11 tracks. The acoustic guitar-driven “Plain Jane,” written in 2008, is a harbinger of this change. “Back and Forth” conjures Daft Punk energy while “Confucius” exudes a modern Parliament-Funkadelic feel. “I was listening to Foo Fighters, LCD Soundsystem, Animal Collective, Coldplay, even some doo wop,” B.o.B says. “There were so many sides of me and aspects missing from my music, so I didn’t want to hold back on this album.”

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When he chooses to rap, or essentially talk shit, on songs such as “Violence” and “UP,” B.o.B still possesses enough braggadocio to be taken seriously as an MC. When he makes lusty thoughts sound like good clean fun during funk romp “Hourglass,” he proves that he can pen pop melodies with ease.

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The music was partially inspired by an art piece he commissioned by Georgia-based oil painter Hannah Faith Yata, which became the album’s cover. The title is a tad misleading, though, as not much about Psycadelik Thoughtz is “psychedelic” when placed next to recent albums from likeminded acts Future and A$AP Rocky. Rather, this is the cleanest that B.o.B has sounded in years, proving what he can do, while focusing on what he does best.