Short Reviews [Sendelica - 2021 - "And Man Created God"]

Sendelica have created a mighty reputation over the years with their highly improvised albums which create wonderful soundscapes, but when they started working on this in 2019, they decided to undertake a different approach, with just the members of the band being involved, Pete Bingham (guitars and noises), Colin Consterdine (beats, keyboards, electronics), Lee Relfe (sax) and Glenda Pescado (bass). Gone were the weekend sessions and instead they worked together to create something special, which then continued through the lockdowns of 2020, with everyone working remotely. The result was a double album, which as normal has already sold out from the label but may be available through other outlets, and is 76 minutes long, with Elfin Bow guesting on “Seren Golawr”. As with their other albums, this is music which enfolds the listener, wrapping around them so that nothing else exists, the world is the music, and the music is the world. The keyboards are often dominant, with the guitars adding other worldly sounds, the sax providing some nuances and the bass keeping it somewhat grounded. It is psychedelic, progressive, new age, dreamy, and designed to take the listener into areas of their mind they didn’t know existed. One can certainly imagine this being played with a lava lamp lightshow in UFO, and when this is playing time no longer matters as it simply ceases to exist. Yet again Sendelica have created an album which transcends space and time and is something which needs to be played on headphones when the listener has the time to do just that, listen, and not be disturbed.