German psychedelic prog/jazz group Rubber Tea first appeared on my radar in 2020 with their debut full-length album, Infusion. Since then, I have been eagle-eying this band to see what they would come up with, and to my delight, making it in just under the wire, Rubber Tea released From A Fading World. Not only is this their finest work to date, but it also became one of my favorite albums of 2023, without a doubt.
From A Fading World boasts various musical genres such as bosa nova, jazz, psychedelic, and progressive rock. From A Fading World proudly showcases Rubber Tea’s ability to make these genres that generally aren’t easy to digest appeal to even the most casual music listeners.
I hear such a broad spectrum of musical influences when I listen to From a Fading World. King Crimson, The Beatles, Moody Blues, Astrud Gilberto, and even a dash of Black Sabbath thrown in for good measure. It’s so hard to focus on what I think are the best songs because every song is pure perfection. The sultry, smooth, and ethereal vocals of Vaness Gross and her impressive display of talent on the saxophone and the flute carried me into a dream state.
Clocking in at 43 minutes and 14 seconds, From A Fading World hit all the sweet spots of psychedelic progressive jazz without overblown and self-indulgent songs of ridiculous length. “Less is more” is a philosophy that wasn’t disregarded by Rubber Tea, which worked in their favor. The progressive elements of songs like “Day of Wrath,” “Go,” and “Superhexacatalyst “ manage to just barely miss the level of unsettling tension of King Crimson, while “Ground Control” took me to heights of moodiness and euphoria similar to that of Pink Floyd.
For such a young band, Rubber Tea composes and performs as a band far beyond their years. From A Fading World is a display of musical perfection and is one of the most perfect albums I have heard in quite a while. The flow of the tracks shows that Rubber Tea put a lot of thought and effort into sequencing these tracks to create something truly magical. From A Fading World is an album that took me on a journey, and for the 43 minutes I was listening, nothing in the world mattered or existed except for the music I was absorbing. That, my friends, is powerful stuff. That, my friends, is Rubber Tea.
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