by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Over the past decade we’ve seen Andy Molholt join the ranks of Speedy Ortiz, play among Eric Slick’s band, and form Coughy, the Joyful Noise signed duo together with Julian Fader, but the one constant has always been Laser Background. His long running solo project started releasing albums back in 2013, evolving its psych pop path along the way, releasing four full length albums in the span of seven years. At some point after 2020’s Evergreen Legend album, Molholt felt it was time to call it a day on Laser Background. While it was sad to see the project come to an end during the pandemic (and without any grand send-off or fanfare), in reality, it was more the retiring of a name, and a chance for Molholt to start anew. Special World is that fresh beginning, a new solo project that explores similar psych territory as his last, but pushes further into alien terrain, opting for an experimental approach, bending melodic psych pop to the point of breaking.
Set to release the Special World EP in the coming months via his own label, Molholt introduces the project at its most delightfully weird, with lead single “Delta P,” one of many surrealist paths less traveled. Recorded and produced by Molholt and mastered by Amar Lal (Fusilier, Yucky Duster, Stuck), we’re immediately transported beyond this reality and into the Special World, a place utterly unknown yet inviting and engaging. With manipulated drums and an electronic pulse that feels pulled from distant planets, Moholt’s vocals are pitched way down, slowed like taffy, as he opens with a statement that immediately rings true, “nothing as it seems,” before expanding “I just want to be left alone today”. It’s a request for solitude amid a sound that feels desolate, labored and expansive, but desolate in the humanity sense. Eventually the skies brighten, with a higher pitched (still very much manipulated) harmony flickering like a lost transmission. In a song that questions his belief in love vs. taking chances, it becomes clear warped pop charm of “Delta P” is looking for connection, a way in, even as it derives from way out.