The latest release from Boise, Idaho-based cult collective Aka Belle is intriguing on every level, doubling down on their homespun mysticism. It starts with the title of this double-header: All Time Is Now (side A) and Now Is All You Have (side B) make up a full-length album of new material, and The Time For Love Is Always Now is a compilation of previously digital-only releases on a second disc. Ultimately, it is about the music, which cannot be pigeonholed, but is essentially a mix of kaleidoscopic psych-folk, gritty garage rock, and soulful rhythm & blues, sprinkled with tropicalia sweetness and weird joy.

It plays like a technicolor dispatch from a commune that discovered both a fuzz pedal and a philosophy book at the same yard sale. The lyrics aim skyward (Mother Earth sermons, cosmic love notes, and gentle reminders to stay human in a distracted age), but the real catch is the communal spirit humming underneath it all. Theremin wails and vibraphone sparkle drift through twelve songs recorded live with the kind of loose chemistry you can’t fake, with infectious harmonies that put an exclamation mark behind it. Indeed, intriguing, like a lovingly chaotic séance with incense smoke drifting through a basement show.

All Time is Now, Now is All You Have + The Time for Love is Always Now is out digitally, on cassette, CD and vinyl 2-LP, through Moon Ruins Records. Featuring Catherine Merrick (vocals, vibraphone, percussion), Christine Nygard (vocals, guitar, theremin), Sam Merrick (guitar, vocals, percussion), Anthony Mulparry (stand up bass, vocals, percussion), and Jake Stigers (drums, vocals, percussion).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Moon Ruins