- Song
“Frontier Psychiatrist” by The Avalanches
I was pretty burned out on music when my friend Andrew lent me his copy of The Avalanches’ debut album. Put simply, Since I Left You was a breath of fresh air, a delightful experience that instantly reawakened my sense of wonder thanks to its cornucopia of exotic samples.
The entire album is a seamless whirlwind, but “Frontier Psychiatrist” is the clear highlight. The song’s a delirious sonic mélange of spaghetti westerns, ghostly choirs, jazz beats, obscure movies and commercials, and wild DJ skills that feels like it should fly apart at any moment, and yet it never does. Instead, it just gets more and more delirious — and delightful — with each passing second.
It took The Avalanches nearly two decades to release a followup to Since I Left You, and listening to “Frontier Psychiatrist,” it’s easy to see why. It’s so full of ideas, it’s a wonder it didn’t take the band even longer to find enough new ideas for a new album.