Song of the Day: Goat - Try My Robe

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Morning Show with John Richards, is "Try My Robe" by Goat from their forthcoming album, Requiem, due October 7 on Sub Pop Records.

Goat - Try My Robe (MP3)With "Try My Robe", from their forthcoming third album, Swedish psych rockers Goat welcome you further into their mystery - quite literally. Up this point, we've speculated on the mythic origins and wondered about the transient union of this anonymous collective without ever really peeking behind their masks. But the personal details of the musicians have always been beside the point. Goat has lived before the current incarnation and, as the story goes, will return after them in another guise. Unchanged, though, are the musical traditions the group draws upon in their modern approach to multicultural tribalism. World Music and Communion, Goat's first two albums, blend Indian, Middle Eastern, African, and Western music of all kinds, erasing their physical boundaries while tapping into their most hypnotic rhythms and captivating melodies, and send it all through a thick psychedelic haze. The new album, Requiem, lays to rest some of that electrified distortion, favoring acoustic guitars, handclaps and wood flutes to face-melting fuzz pedals and pounding beats on most (but not all!) songs.

Today's featured song, "Try My Robe", is definitely one of the more Aquarian numbers, both in style and content. Rawly recorded, this bangled Bhangra banger calls to mind dervishing dancers silhouetted on a sunset-lit field, arms serpenting skyward, yet the lyrics invite a calmer repose: "Come sit down / by my side / play that drum / share my bread / taste my food / try my robe / sing that song / for my love / all night long / sit down and rest". Though it's mostly acoustic, and this being Goat, a minute-long psych guitar jam threads the song's two verses. Frenetic yet trance-inducing, "Try My Robe" is an amazing sonic dreamcoat you'll want to try on again and again.

You'll have to wait, though, if you want to commune with Goat in person, unless you're outside of the U.S. The collective has been performing festivals and shows throughout Europe, but they do not yet have plans Stateside. While you're send prayers to the psych gods for that to happen, keep checking their website and Facebook page for updates. For now, check out the very recently released alternate-vocal version of “Union of Sun and Moon”, the first track off Requiem: