PREMIERE: The Myrrors Head to the Desert in “No Clear Light”

Tucson via Punjab.
PREMIERE: The Myrrors Head to the Desert in “No Clear Light”

Tucson via Punjab.

Words: FLOOD Staff

photo by Joanna Cuellar

March 24, 2016

The Myrrors / photo by Joanna Cuellar

Imagine, if you will, dragging a lightning-hot Punjabi band from their native climes and depositing them in Arizona’s arid heat, leaving their music to dry out and crack in the desert. “No Clear Light,” from Tucson psych trio The Myrrors, feels like a sun-bleached snippet from some discarded raga, and we’re proud to be premiering it this morning. A creaky bulbul tarang—an Indian street instrument that sounds a bit like a dulcimer and looks a bit like a typewriter—winds a circular path to the loping rhythm set by a pair of hand drums and jangling, arrhythmic percussion. Though it cuts off right around the three-and-a-half-minute mark, it feels like it could go on forever.

Not surprisingly, given its circular structure, the song was the product of a lengthy jam session. “Even though acoustic music is a large part of our sound, we haven’t recorded much in that vein,” says the group’s Nik Rayne, who notes that the song’s “creaky tablas” have been in the Afghan side of his family for generations. The titular phrase comes from an old scrapped recording that happened to jump into Rayne’s mind while the group were jamming. “I ended up improvising the lyrics,” he says, though from the way his voice is pitched through the droning canyon walls around him, you hardly need to understand what he’s saying to know that he’s your guide here.

“No Clear Light” is taken from Entranced Earth, the group’s third record, which is out on May 27 via Beyond Beyond is Beyond. And while that label name should definitely be an indication of the song’s outré nature, The Myrrors aren’t just another psych band to wander into the wilderness with a head full of psiloscybin; “No Clear Light” feels like a glimpse beyond a dark curtain and into a murky vista, and you get the sense that the band are ready to close off the view at any moment.

You can give “No Clear Light” a listen—and see Entranced Earth’s art and track list—below.

Entranced Earth track list

“Mountain Mourning”The_Myrrors-2016-Albumcover
“Liberty is in the Street”
“No Clear Light”
“Entranced Earth”
“Tallos”
“Invitation Mantra”
“Surem Dervish”

Entranced Earth is out May 27 via Beyond Beyond is Beyond.