Prepare to get your world rocked as the band Silica Gel released their new album ‘Ballad of You’ today. The album is built around Osamu Tezuka’s manga ‘Phoenix‘, along with the concept ‘spiral molting’, which is a term they made up to describe reincarnation rather as a forward movement than repetition.
The album contains a solid twelve tracks and starts with ‘Dr.BOB’. This is a very cool opener as we’re launched into Silica Gel’s psychedelic world. It is a nod to Moog synthesizer inventor Robert Moog.
‘Melatonimn 88mg’ has some incredible instrumentals. I love how the synths and the guitar absolutely popped off and that instrumental break was such a surprise!
After that comes ‘Crybaby’ with a fabulous opening. The psychedelic rock is alive and well in this album. It’s an awesome listen, despite being so short.
‘Molecular Gastronomy’ is a great alt rock number with great lyrics and a really solid progression. This was a pre-release.
Next up is the title track ‘Manphasickzuck’ which is a legendary flute of the Unified Silla era and leans into lyrics built around fire and comets. I really enjoyed how they helped bring that to life with the instrumentals.
‘You Just Wanna Have Some Fun’ is a very interesting track. I love how we’re getting an organ interlude.
‘Crime Scene’ is a moody, dark and short track that has a dope instrumental line.
The following track ‘Metamorphosing’ brings back some life with a very uplifting sound. I absolutely adored the middle section where you just wanna join them in the ‘lalala’s’.
‘Postpink’ is a very fun rock track with a solid progression and warm vocals. I loved the outro as well.
‘Up Quark’ is a very plucky synthy track. It’s a cool listen and has some lovely high notes that create a very spacey vibe. The piano brings some drama to the sound, which I love.
The track ‘BIG VOID’ was previously released as the single version in 2025. Here they created the album version.
The closing track is ‘Accident’ which is a beautiful track and one of my personal favorites of the entire album. It’s a softer sound and leaves a warm impression.
You can find the album ‘Ballad of You’ on Silica Gel’s Spotify here.
