The Widdershins (US) – Glass in the Garden (Album Review)

Not to be confused with the Swiss band Widdershins, this is a new album of original songs just released this past October by a psychedelic rock band from Eureka, California in the United States. Yes, it’s interesting that both bands are in the same psychedelic rock genre and both bands chose the same name, so we’ll call the US band The Widdershins (US) in this album review. Maybe one day soon they’ll both open for each other. That would be sweet!

The Widdershins (US) formed in Los Angeles in 1989 and is the musical collaboration of lead singer and lyricist Christine Walden and guitarist Frank Mancinelli, who writes most of the music on the new album (10.25.2024) titled “Glass in the Garden”. The album features Spencer Kennedy on drums and additional guitar and Lisa Sharry on bass guitar and backing vocals. Christine’s daughter Aimee Taylor plays drums for the band live.

Glass in the Garden is a psychedelic rock album and more straight ahead 60’s psychedelic rock than the more modern psychedelic shoegaze sound of their Swiss namesakes. I love that this new album was mixed and mastered by Xeff Scolari and Spencer Kennedy to sound more like an original psychedelic rock album from the late 60s / early 70s. It is not overly compressed to max volume like most of today’s records.

The band’s new album “Glass in the Garden” is now available on Bandcamp:

The album’s first song “Is” reminds me a lot of 60s bands Buffalo Springfield and Jefferson Airplane. Christine Walden’s vocals are just made for this genre (60s psychedelic rock). I interviewed Christine for this article. She described her motivation behind the lyrics in this song as “no matter what has happened to us in the past, all we have is now.”

The second song “Please (Don’t Fall Asleep” is filled with the same trippy-ness with a swirling lead guitar solo underneath Christine’s period-perfect vocals. “We are all stuck in the illusion of death, there is no death, only transformation.” The third song This Is the City reminds us that this is a cruel world, where is the kindness? “I’m on the street now” and it’s a “cold, cold world”. Nice bridge in this song followed by a heavily wah-ed out guitar solo. Christine describes her intent in writing this song as “every city is the same, it’s all about the mighty dollar, we’ve lost our light and forgotten how to love each other.” Having been homeless myself, I can very much relate.

The fourth song Cab 23 floats wistfully. It’s “a love song, basically,” about the insanity of love.

49 Miles, the fifth song on the album, starts off with a driving bass riff by Lisa Sharry, and a nice psychedelic guitar. “I’ve lost a lot of friends, this song is an homage to a very dear poet friend who I recently lost,” Christine said about the song. With it’s memorable line “He’s talking to the angels, and I miss you …” this song is pure 49 Miles of psychedelic rock!

The next song is the album’s title cut “Glass in the Garden” which Christine describes as “how I feel about our earth. We have become slaves to the machine and we’ve forgotten where everything has come from and we’ve lost respect for the earth” The song starts with a quick psychedelic electric guitar riff followed immediately by a nice acoustic guitar progression. Christine’s vocals, with Lisa Sharry adding backing vocals, fit effortlessly into the song’s simple and elegant instrument bed. “Love is just a whisper distance away, can you hear?”

The seventh song Hand on the table has a really nice chorus guitars riff under catchy chorus “I put my hands on the table, I feel my heart beating.” The verse has a really nice bouncing bass riff. One thing I love about this band is that most all of their songs have catchy sing-along choruses. A definite songwriting coup. Christine describe this song as “a love song too.” The eighth song Same Sky, “we’re under the same sky” is “another love song to everyone.” You’ll be singing along with the chorus on this one. Very nice acoustic guitar solo in the middle.

The final song on the album Don’t Break Up, Don’t Break Down paints quite the picture and political statement: “War has been in the oceans and on earth since the beginning of time, and I hope that we can make it through this if we don’t break down. I’m an idealist, but I hope we can find a solution as a species.” Starting with a simple guitar riff this song reminds me most of Buffalo Springfield with its singalong chorus “Don’t Break Up, Don’t Break Down” and talking of bombs falling on the UK. This song is passionate plea for the world’s citizens to “Wake Up!” and “see, feel, be the future.”

SCORE/Excellent: If you’re looking for authentic new music that perfectly captures the original sound of a psychedelic rock album from the late 60s, this band fills that bill. Their new album “Glass in the Garden” is mixed and mastered to replicate the sound of band’s from that era. Their new album is filled with very catchy sing-along choruses punctuated by understated, but masterfully crafted instrument beds. Everything is in its place and nothing is out of order. If you’re into psychedelic rock as a modern genre, or just crave the old-school less compressed mixing/mastering of bygone eras,  then don’t pass up this new album by The Widdershins (US).

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