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French Alps group Justfil brings it back to life in the most hauntingly gorgeous fashion on their new single, "Sailing." It's a filmic journey cast in sound, shifting between memory and mirage.
Motivated by a mission-focused mission to carry the torch of 60s, 70s, and 80s rock into the present, Justfil mimics the past and talks back to it. "Sailing" is the best example of that ethos imaginable. It starts as a slow sunrise over glass-still waters, the creeping movement you feel happening as vintage-toned guitars and ambient textures immediately make it clear that you're in for something out of this world.
The words are pure poetry, cryptic but full of feeling. Listeners are ushered into a veil of silver mist and experience a journey. Whispers break the mast, and wings of glass are torn. It's got a surrealistic, nearly mythic air, reminiscent of abstract storytelling that characterized the golden age of prog rock. Still, it's filtered here through a decidedly contemporary lens.
Justfil isn't afraid of its influences, but it doesn't disappear into them either. The alchemy is precarious analog warmth colliding with the cold, hard contemporary production edges. It's reflective, yes, but never derivative. You hear the ghosts of rock's past murmuring, but "Sailing" remains on its sea legs.