10 Modern Albums That Prove Psychedelia Is Alive And Well

Psychedelia manifests itself in many different forms across music. While the original intentions of the loose genre were to replicate the experiences of ingesting psychedelic drugs, or the weightier notion of "expanding one's mind (read: taking drugs, but in a pretentious way)," its combination of pop accessibility with experimentation has transformed into a variety of different musical acts. 

Those who say that psychedelic rock is "dead" may be correct, but that is a non-issue. Music changes from generation to generation and exists under its own context. Even modern bands that appear to "re-create" the styles of the 60s and 70s could only exist at this specific point in time. 

Anyway, the following musicians bear traces of what can be deemed "psychedelic." Whether it is through mind-bending experimentation, or certain sounds that harken back to the first flood of psychedelic bands in the late 1960s, these artists are carrying the torch for psychedelia in music.

The new Tame Impala album might be their best yet, but their second album from 2012 is their most psychedelic. Kevin Parker has easily proven himself to be one of the most interesting voices in modern music, and this record cements it as fact. 

His falsetto dancing above his crunchy, fluid guitar playing is a dream. And while the album carries the sound of a work that may ramble, or indulge in one too many guitar solos, it comes off as so perfectly polished. No hook is wasted, every chorus hits - it's immaculate. 

This gorgeous ode to a solitary lifestyle goes beyond the pure feeling of their first album to something so much more immediate. The record is so sunny at points it threatens to burn up while listening to it. 

Ultimately, it achieves a forward thinking take on psychedelia by offering something infinitely more interesting than the genre's first wave. Lonerism destroys it.