Kokoro

Tel Aviv-based quartet Sababa 5’s third full-length album in as many years is, in fact, a compilation of the A and B sides of two singles recorded with Japanese singer Yurika and released in 2019 and 2020, a few years before their self-titled 2022 debut LP – plus four new tracks continuing the collaboration. Not that the actual chronology makes a lot of difference: every track sounds like a lost nugget of pancontinental pop-psychedelia from a parallel 1960s. Though they may come across as a tad contrived, there’s no doubt that Sababa 5 have a genuine knack for these catchy pastiches. Turkish psych is an obvious touchstone, with Ilan Smilan’s guitar switching between funky wah-wah and a brittle, saz-like attack. And keyboardist Eitan Drabkin plugs right into a retro psychedelic sound with chunky Hammond organ and kaleidoscopic synth swirls. Add Yurika’s sweetly innocent Japanese vocals and the kitsch factor is through the roof.