Tryptamine is a highly unique project consisting of electro-acoustic talents Charles F. Moreland III and futurebum, combining their artistic aptitudes to form a very distinct sound. With their first release, “Serpent Tomb” making its way to listeners in 2020, the new production duo are pioneering a psychedelic subgenre all their own.
The music video for “Stelae” from Jaguar Priest features a surreal scene of dispersing fractals, following a woman on a disorienting journey through rivers, forests, fire, and eventually the sun, the viewer is left with both a calming and unsettling experience. With no real tether to the tangible world, “Stelae” lives on a different plane, with hushed vocals complimenting soft sonic sensibilities sprinkled throughout.
Jaguar Priest opens with “Balam”, a downtempo number laced with shimmering electronic flair and a celestial, otherworldly ambiance. “Skybands” follows “Stelae” and is the most cinematic of the assortment, where seemingly unlike sound effects are paired together to form a harmonious, unexpected blend of noise. “Cloud Omen”, features a static stylized sound warped into a steady, chilled-out beat with a defined trip-hop inspiration alongside pulsating electronica. “Fortuner” rounds out the EP with sublime frequencies interplaying, leaving the listener with a calming sense of wonder.
Inspiring the EP’s namesake, the 17th and 18th century Mayans had a secret weapon: The Chilam Bilam, or the Jaguar Priest. Chosen at birth, they kept this prophet underground never to see the light of the sun. Down beneath the earth’s surface, the Chilam Bilam would go into various trance states, compiling esoteric writings under his namesake. The village paid close attention to his many predictions, which signaled everything from famine to the invasion of the Spaniards. Tryptamine’s Jaguar Priest EP sets out to shed light on this forgotten enigmatic figure. This EP is a love letter to forgotten ritual and magic, a retroactive soundtrack to an arcane moment in humanity’s timeline.
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