Brooklyn, NY
A Kaleidoscopic Space Odyssey 

Although Corbu lead singer Jonathan Graves lives a grounded existence as a grade-school music teacher in Brooklyn, his musical life and perspective can only be described as out of this world. Earlier this year, the psychedelic-rock act dropped their debut album, Crayon Soul—a set crafted with the help of Abie Sieford and famed Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann—which was inspired by old NASA space photos from the 1970s and, in Graves’ own words, “watching the end scene of 2001 over and over again.” Musically, Corbu takes cues from Tame Impala with their head-nodding, cerebral, psychedelic guitar drones, while borrowing from Animal Collective’s expansive instrumentation. Tracks like the sublime “Branches” build to electronic crescendos that hit an apex with static noise and the hushed voice of Graves’ bandmate and collaborator, Amanda Scott. Like his influence , Graves takes pride in enticing the senses and sonically time-traveling with his audience. “I have found, when I can get back the openness of childhood, creativity just flows like it won’t do at other times,” he says. “It’s not something I think about consciously, but it’s much more rewarding to bring yourself back to that place.”