Solar Corona - Pace - LP

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The motoric return of Solar Corona turns minimal rock into an expansive, ever-churning psychedelic voyage in their newest offering, PACE.

The band's fifth release, PACE, shifts gears with Lorr No (Nuno Loureiro) hitching a ride as a dubmechanic that pulls the sound of Solar Corona's core trio—Rodrigo Carvalho (Guitar/synths), Peter Carvalho (drums), José Roberto Gomes (bass)—into an off-road expanse. The stripped-down songwriting reaches a new power through its simplicity. The raw ideas of each track were jammed out in Alpendurada, a town deep in the Douro Valley. After a two-year distillation process the riffs and sonic materials have reached a concentration not unlike the alchemical moonshine native to Solar Corona's Portuguese North. Simple principles and steadfast mechanics become channeled into perennial journeys where speed & pace remain distinct.

Each track celebrates a specific element in its own way. The introductory ‘Heavy Metal Salts’ establishes the pulsing impulse of PACE, with sparkling electroacoustic details bringing a lysergic dose to the climactic structure. The title-track ‘Pace’ mellows out Solar Corona’s soundscape, and stands out as a space-mantra without riffs, solos, or the need to headbang. Guitar-led tracks such as ‘Thrust’ and ‘AU’ return to the in-the-red rock-n-roll that is a constant pulse in the veins of the band, before being injected by their new, more ethereal, sonic. The incessant groove of ‘Parker SP’ built out of bouncing bass and straight-ahead drums provides the ground for the other members to lift-off into a spaced out atmospherics. ‘Alpendurada’ closes the album in epic proportions as the band weaves in and out of knob-twisting psychedelia and instantly earwormed guitar melodies anchored by a propulsive bass.

Solar Corona's last two efforts, LIGHTNING ONE & SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ (both released in 2019), were also as a four-piece with Julius Gabriel's electroacoustic sax brought along for the journey. Gabriel's departure from the band in 2020, left a seat open for Lorr No (Fugly, Favela Discos) to bring his own patterned twist to the band's progressive stonerism. Solar Corona’s PACE takes its listener on an ambitious journey. For fans of the expansive rock music of acts like Endless Boogie, Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, Hawkwind, and GNOD.