Syd Arthur is a British psych-rock quartet formed in 2006. They have been influenced musically by late-’60s and early-’70s progressive acts like the Soft Machine and Caravan, but with a more modern, contemporary sound. The name “Syd Arthur” is a play on the name “Siddhartha”, from the 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse about the spiritual journey of a man named Siddhartha, during the time of Buddha – FUN FACT: In actual history, “Siddhartha Gautama” is the real name of Buddha, the enlightened one, from the eastern Buddhism religion.
The members of Syd Arthur are from Canterbury, a place rich in musical history, and three of the four members are brothers! Two of the brothers, guitarist Liam MaGill and bassist Joel MaGill met drummer Fred Rother and violinist Raven Bush while in school and formed Syd Arthur. They spent years gigging and developing unique jazz-rock sound, which led to them eventually building their own recording studio, Wicker Studios, in 2009. The group recorded their debut EP, Moving World, which was released in 2010. Check out “Pulse”below, from Moving World.
They released the single “Ode to the Summer” in 2011, which would be featured on their upcoming LP, On and On, released the following year. It has a very progressive and psychadelic sound, check out the video below!
Britain’s Harvest Records, signed the band in 2013 and reissued On and On later that year. They quickly followed up in May 2014 with their second album, Sound Mirror. “Garden of Time” from On and On is a bit more poppy, with a beautiful build up to a psychedelic jam at about 3 minutes in, toward the end of the song.
Also from On and On, “Hometown Blues” explores a different sound, incorporating piano and violin. Watch the music video for it below, the footage in it is of Canterbury before the WWII bombing.
“Edge of the Earth” from On and On, sounds like it was plucked straight from the 70s, very proggy, with “oohs and ahhs” like you would hear in psychedelic progressive rock from back in the day. Watch the official video below:
In 2015, Liam and Joel’s younger brother, Josh Magill, began filling in for drummer Fred Rother, who had been suffering from severe tinnitus. It was later confirmed that Josh had permanently replaced Rother and made his first recorded appearance this year on Syd Arthur’s third full-length for Harvest, Apricity, which released last month in October of 2016. Check out the video below for the title track, “Apricity” that you’ve been hearing on 106.3 Radio Lafayette. It’s so catchy! The members are playing in near darkness, lit only by flashing shapes and amorphous blobs of colour. It is very remnicint of a BBC4 documentary that shows Pink Floyd at the UFO club, similarly lit only by flashing shapes and blobs of colour.
“Sun Rays” is another darker pop-infused track from Apricity, watch the video for it below!
