Few artists have merged alternative rock and electronica like Perry Farrell. His latest solo record, Kind Heaven, is an eclectic mix of hard rock, Cyperpunk, psychedelia, and pop, set to highly-stylized, pulsating digital rhythms, which are captured in the moment with some help from the razor-sharp studio techniques of co-producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Iggy Pop).
Kind Heaven is largely driven by Farrell’s madcap laughs and spontaneous energy. Ever the pied piper, the man who gave us Jane’s Addiction, Porno for Pyros, and Lollapalooza—and that’s just the short list—weighs in on everything from the current political clusterfuck, to themes of universal love and kindness on Kind Heaven in a way that doesn’t seem hokey, or even conjure a roll of the eyes from the listener.
The album’s first single, “Pirate Punk Politician,” takes on you-know-who head first with confidence and bravado; it’s a protest song set to a sonic barrage of pounding drums and scratching guitars. On “Snakes Have Many Hips,” Farrell declares “Everyone and everything is way too linear/We could all use a little dose of psychedelia.” And to this end, Farrell seems happy in administering the trip. “Machine Girl” cruises like Barbarella down the Sunset Strip, as Farrell duets with his wife Etty, both in sultry vocal form, as futuristic guitars and bleeps and blips of the electronic variety take helm of the mothership. Etty Farrell also appears on the romantic, string-laden “One” that thumps with a jungle breakbeat and spirals into a sonic crescendo of epic proportion.
Despite some of the direct political overtones, Farrell is still all about bringing the love tribe full-circle. He bounces back and forth between a modern day Jim Morrison and a funky soothsayer, proving he is still able to conjure up the magic and mysticism of his previous work while remaining one step ahead of the curve. In just over 30 minutes, Kind Heaven, struts from the dance floor to the backstreets with necromantic verve.
