Plantoid: Flare – Review – ALBUM OF THE WEEK!

Funky prog rock Brighton trio Plantoid return after their acclaimed debut Terrapath with a nine track beauty of complicated sound that soars with layers of innovative psych without sounding like a ‘boardroom of chin stroking beards’. Wayne AF Carey reviews…

Plantoid are a refreshing change to the prog rock scene after cementing their status with Terrapath, a funky as fuck debut that combined mad freakouts, trip hop layers, loads of funk and clever noodling without getting too serious. Flare is a leap forward in sound and texture as the band explain:

“While making FLARE, we did knowingly acknowledge that our sound had been very erratic,” explains drummer Louis Bradshaw, who along with vocalist/guitarist Chloe Spence and lead guitarist Tom Coyne make up the nucleus of Plantoid. “We never stayed on anything for too long. Before going into writing this album we wanted to slightly redefine what we were doing—it’s less directly proggy. It strays from that sound a bit, while retaining that character.”

There was a circumstantial element to this artistic evolution, as well as a creative one. After spending a solid year gigging in support of Terrapath, the band needed time away from the hustle and bustle to properly focus on their next chapter. This refuge came in the form of a writing retreat in Anglesey, Wales, where their label were able to set them up with philosopher/musician Laurie Gane who gave them full use of this converted studio. Under the (actually, quite prog-rock-sounding) Snowdonia mountains, the band were able to fully let loose and reconnect.

“We were at this beautiful place called Penhesgyn Hall,” says Tom. “We didn’t intend to actually record the album there, but we loved it so much. The sound of the barn was amazing.” It’s in this environment where the majority of the songs on FLARE were conceived, during insular jam sessions that went late into the night. “We’d never really done that as a band before,” explains Chloe.” We ended up writing and tracking pretty much a song a day—we’d have so much material.”

Parasite kicks off with a frenzied jam, crazy drums and crazier guitar solo before mellowing down into a beautiful drum beat with sweet vocals from Chloe, which bring to mind Portishead’s Beth Gibbons in her prime with added funk due to the rolling drums and atmospheric keys, before banging out into another mental rock jam. A great start. Ultivatum Cultivation is a slower funky groove that has hints of TTRUUCES, with excellent vocal dynamics and some great echoing guitar and bass sliding in and out like a psych sandwich. The Weaver starts of like a funky folk number with sweet vocals and a mellow mix of quiet drums and soothing bass flickering over the top of an acoustic strum that threatens to build and has a Vini Reilly vibe. It’s bliss in a box.

Dozer is a six minute funky bastard that never lets down. Think Henge here without the strange vocals from those nutters replaced by Chloe and her dynamic range going off the scale, backed by Louis’ great drumming and Tom’s innovative guitar licks from the school of cool. Their trick is the way they can slow down into a weird psych morphing then build back up into some wobbly noise to trick the aural senses. Good For You slowly starts with lovely vocals and an ear brushing bit of acoustic guitar and folk psych atmospherics that float around like an Autumn leaf. The drums kick in and the tempo is raised with small jams that kick like a mule and doesn’t upset the apple cart. Worn is prog rock shoegaze at it’s finest. Ethereal like Lush on a weed bender. It’s modern sounding and a pleasure to the ears with shimmering guitars and a tribal drum beat throughout giving it a nice flow.

Splatter ups the tempo with funky as fuck drums and great vocals that come across into the more indie funk genre, which verges on a prog punk sound that’s refreshing with a cracking mini guitar solo which crashes out towards the finale. Slow Moving is what it says in the title, lyrics and vocals as smooth as Sade, cowbells low in the mix and more ethereal guitars dragging you into a cocoon of mellow atmospherics. Beautiful stuff. Daisy Chains closes the album with a seven minute jazz prog funk out. It slips and slides from mellow to melody throughout without taking itself too serious and Tom’s clever guitar sound warp in and out like a slippery snake from the planet Klingon on acid. Three minutes in it goes all early Floyd with some trippy shit and the mellowest drum beat from Mellowtown. It builds into a guitar fuelled finale that verges on Mogwai sound before crashing out like a boxer on the tarpaulin. Sweeet! If this is the future of prog rock then I’m certainly in.

Plantoid 2026 UK Tour:

17th February – Birmingham – The Hare and Hounds

18th February – Leeds – Oporto

19th February – Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s

20th February – Gateshead – The Central

21st February – Hull – The New Adelphi Club

25th February – Bristol – The Croft

26th February – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach

27th February – Portsmouth – Kola

28th February – Ramsgate – Ramsgate Music Hall

4th March – Dublin – The Grand Social

6th March – Brighton – The Hope and Ruin

7th March – Brighton – Green Door Store

12th March – London – Moth Club

13th March – Norwich – Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom

14 March – Manchester – Louder Than War Live @ Manchester Academy

Words by Wayne Carey, Reviews Editor for Louder Than War. His author profile is here