Conjuring a mysterious brew of folk, psychedelia, world music, and progressive rock, Immaterial Possession are a group from Athens, Georgia whose music takes listeners into a world all their own. Embarking on their first UK tour this Spring, they will play a special London show at EartH on 27th April as part of the Fire Records 40th Anniversary all-dayer with The Giant Syndicate (aka Giant Sand, Kristin Hersh and Steve Wynn) along with their own headline show at Dalston’s Shacklewell Arms.
To celebrate they revisit their debut with a new take on ‘Tropical Still Life (Floridian Variant)’. A mutant Cumbia groove set against a 60s bassline, the single’s haunted combo organs swell and swirl around kinetic rhythms. It’s woven together with serpentine strands of arabesque fuzz-guitar, as a voice calls from the darker shadows, inviting you to the floor.
Introducing themselves with their self-titled debut album in 2020, and 2023’s Mercy of the Crane Folk fleshed out their ideas with greater skill and assurance. Their sound is exotic without being forbidding, created within the framework of pop music while embracing a mindset that falls outside its boundaries, and generating a sense of joy even when it slips into a shadowy mood.
“Folk-laden and nomadic psych-pop that harks back somewhat to the hazy days of late ’60s/early ’70s commune music when everything was all earthy and hopeful.” Norman Records
Immaterial Possession was formed by Cooper Holmes and Madeline Polites, a pair of multidisciplinary artists originally from Atlanta. They had been part of a community of musicians, artists, and theatrical performers who had established themselves in the city’s D.I.Y. underground scene. Feeling confined by the size of Atlanta, Holmes and Polites relocated to nearby Athens, a college town that had a reputation as a home for free-thinking and bohemian culture in the Peach State. The two were eager to start a band, with Holmes on bass and vocals and Polites on guitar and vocals. Looking for like-minded collaborators, they found experienced percussionist John Spiegel and keyboardist and woodwinds player Kiran Fernandes descendant of the beloved local Elephant 6 scene of Athens. Dressed in fanciful costumes and playing music they hoped would transport and transform their audiences, Immaterial Possession soon earned a unique reputation in Athens, and the Elephant 6-affiliated label Cloud Recordings issued their debut in 2020.
Immaterial Possession Artist Page
Live Dates
23 Apr: Talleryrand, Manchester, UK
24 Apr: Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, UK, w/ Marta Del Grandi
25 Apr: Cobalt Studios, Newcastle, UK, w/ Marta Del Grandi
27 Apr: Forty Years Of Fire – The Giant Syndicate, Earth, London, UK, w/ Giant Sand, The Dream Syndicate, Kristin Hersh, Islet, Bas Jan, Marta Del Grandi, Graham Reynolds
28 Apr: The Shacklewell Arms, London, UK
29 Apr: Folklore Rooms, Brighton, UK, w/ Marta Del Grandi
