French psychedelic pop finery from a group who first caught my attention with their 2016 debut album ‘In Excelsis Stereo’. Five years on, all that I had heard in the intervening period that these were still a going concern was a couple of, admittedly superb, EPs amid reports in the press that there had been a change in personnel. Now a sextet, their second album realized the stunning potential apparent on that first album then added to it in waves. ‘Sabbat Matters’ was an incredible record absolutely spilling over with heavy melodic adventurousness, lyrical vim and wonder. A dizzying, head-in-the-clouds, musical dream bursting into reality.

Maybe not to younger ears for whom the popular sounds involve a bit of electronic modernism, a rap segment or an autotuned vocal track, but for me this is out-and-out pop music. OK, so you could argue that it is a pop music sound that found it’s big moment in the charts more than fifty years ago when Shocking Blues were frugging ‘Venus’ and fuzz guitaring their way through the ‘Hot Sand’, but if pop remains built around songs and tunes, especially ones that are instant, alive and played with joy and passion, then this can be called nothing other than pure pop. This is a ten-track record without filler, it fizzes, sparkles and hits its mark on every single track.

Up front the group build their sonic wizardry around a trio of female vocals who all caress the lyrics in that precise way that mainland Europeans do when singing English language words. But this is, in part, why the music is so vital, because as much as there is a feeling of looseness and opportunities to wig out a bit instrumentally are not denied, this never slips into indulgence or sloppiness; these tracks are as carefully and creatively constructed as the lyrics are meticulously enunciated. Then add to that the late sixties, early seventies period stylings of playing, but playing that is alive with feeling as it breathes life into these songs. So, a near perfect retro pop record then, but only because the compositions are so strong; retro sounds for the sake of retro sounds are never that exciting to me.

Nothing this good was ever built for the sake of it though. Yes, the pagan and sabbat themes may well conjure up images of fifteenth century witchcraft, ‘The Wicker Man’ and acid-folk queens, which are far from the topics on the lips of the average pop kid, but choose to embrace the vintage eastern vibes, the overwhelming smell of incense and peppermints, and a kaleidoscopic pop experience is here waiting for you. This is the reason music aficionados like me dig around the margins, there may well be a lot of unwanted and unloved dross fallen to the wayside, but there is also an abundance of rare and beautiful gems either waiting for discovery or ripe for rediscovery. This is music that needs to be heard by anyone with a love for strong, colorful, gorgeously sung pop music with a late sixties psych-pop, fuzz heavy, freakbeat flavor. Yes, it really is that good, go and check it out immediately.

Find a vinyl pressing of this album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/17252311-Gloria-Sabbat-Matters