Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is a fine line between human creativity and the application of AI in our pursuit of inventing art and designing future sculptured appreciation; it is a line that encompasses the use of the improvised and the experimental to the absolute degree, and one we must be careful in which we employ our own narrative.

The debut album from Ancient Psychic Triple Hyper Octopus brings together Alex Bonney on trumpet, bass recorder and strohviol, Will Glazer on drums and percussion, and Isambard Khroustaliov (Sam Britton) on electronics, and in the exotically and gothically inspired Put Emojis On My Grave, the passion between times, between eras is very much to be admired and one that comes with its novel way of exploring the shifting sands of the organic and the ultra-mechanical as they combine with power and simmering attitude.

Put Emojis On My Grave is intense and rich, an album without the usual application of language, but one driven the tongues of instruments and the philosophical stance of nonverbal linguistic syntax provided by the patterns of traditional configuration; the positive slant on the AI contribution acting as a buffer of imagination of the possible future for music, and one that we have perhaps have encountered before as the transition from innate biological studio feel was replaced by the intimate home based production, the rigid dynamic to the spontaneous adventure.

Across the tracks Goats On Helium, Drinking Songs Of The Quaidacabondish, 1,000,000 Bongos, and The Adiabatic Flux Differentials Of The Id, the humour and the intensity of the movements make themselves clearly marked, the flow of the exploration, feeling for the notes as they merge and mingle in the air, the interplay of the creators is frenetic and calmly delivered.

To place construct between the style of interpretation that is electronic and organic could be seen as a wedge, a warning to avoid the ever-evolving nature of humanity and of the art we can create; or it can be embraced, we can see the value of diversity and innovation within. For the trio that make up Ancient Psychic Triple Hyper Octopus, that intrigue in innovation is digs deep and strikes a deep vein of pleasure.

Ian D. Hall