With new album ‘Time, Islands and Thresholds‘, Lay Llamas heads out on a spellbinding, synapse-fried voyage that evokes hallucinatory visions in mysterious, exotic lands. Across ten tracks, hypnagogic psychedelia is masterfully laced with cosmic dub, space rock, and the kind of music you might hear on records by Eden Ahbez and Martin Denny. Describing the imagery and existential trajectory that underpins the record, Giunta references “surfers on acid,  mysterious rites on deserted islands, worshippers of solar deities, night flights, animal skins, will-o’-the-wisps on hilltops, liminal spaces, passages into the underworld, psychic inner journeys; life, death and rebirth.”

‘Time, Islands and Thresholds‘ then, is a record of heady, retrofuturist iconography and into-the-void introspection. Drawing parallels with Spacemen 3, Peaking Lights and Sun Araw, it’s an album that nevertheless finds Lay Llamas plotting the project’s own psychotropic course. The album finale ‘I Was Blind (Now It’s Over)‘ is also one of the most beautifully strung out songs we’ve heard this year.

To accompany the release of the album, Giunta has put together a suitably potent mix of hypnotic drum trances, heavyweight dub, snarling noir-punk and rarefied psych to liven up, expand and soothe your soul. Settle in for a special one.

Listen to the mix and album below, then read on for an interview with the man himself. Full tracklisting for the mix is available via Soundcloud.

Where are you right now, and how did you end up there?
I am sitting in a room. By walking.

What’s your first memory of music actually doing something to you – shifting something inside?
‘Nevermind’ album, by Nirvana. I was 12.

Walk us through a day when you’re completely away from music. Does it ever actually happen?
Rarely. During those days I love to read my books, watch movies or take a walk outside.

What did you think you’d end up doing when you were younger – before all this?
Professional music journalist.

Talk us through this mix. What headspace were you in when you put it together?
Nothing in particular. It’s just part of the music I’m discovering and listening during the last few weeks. I love hazy, psych[edelic], dubby sounds.

Where should someone listen to this, and what should they absolutely not be doing at the same time?
Laying on a comfortable armchair, surrounded by plants, low lights, close your eyes. Shut down that fucking phone.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had, and did it leave you with anything useful?
Dishwasher in the UK for an Italian restaurant. Now I know how to hand wash pots almost a meter high.

Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met in the last year who has nothing to do with music?
I’m a special needs teacher. That’s my everyday job and I love it. At the moment I’m working with a guy who’s 12 years old, his name is Marvellous. He is absolutely brilliant!

What record do you own that you love but genuinely have no idea what to do with?
Very difficult question, as normally I listen to records I love. Anyway.

What was the first record that made you feel something you couldn’t name?
‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana.

First record you bought with your own money versus the last one. What does the gap between those two say about you?
First: ‘Use your Illusion I’ by Guns’n’Roses.
Last: ‘Play Me’ by Kim Gordon.
I’m a 90s kind of guy?

If this mix were a meal, what are we eating – and where?
A tropical exotic salad…on that comfortable armchair.

What animal would this mix be, and is it hunting or being hunted?
A rattlesnake. Hunter, or better a searcher.

Monday morning: are you genuinely excited about the week, or running on pretence?
50/50.

‘Time, Islands and Thresholds‘ deals a lot in liminal spaces and altered states. Was there a moment during making it where you felt you’d crossed into something?
Recording sessions for ‘Time, Islands and Thresholds’ were something magic and wild for me. I didn’t think much about what I was doing, I was just wandering with my mind and sometimes I felt ‘out of’ my body…or maybe too much inside? I don’t know.

The record is described in terms of surfers on acid, solar rites, passages into the underworld. What’s your personal way into this album – which track unlocks it for you?
It’s like a long dreamstate. The last track ‘I Was Blind (Now It’s Over)’ is the key; is the subject dead? Is it an awakening? Is he still dreaming?

You’ve just had a blazing row with your closest friend. Do you wait, or do you go first?
Wait.

Stranded on a desert island with one person. Who, and how long before things turn?
My imaginary friend. Forever buddies.

Your doctor tells you to exercise more. What are you realistically going to do about that?
I do more exercise…I suppose.

If you had a working time machine — where would you go, and what would you hope to find?
In my hometown, in Sicily. Looking for that bright sunny light from my childhood.

What’s coming up that you’re genuinely excited about?
Making and listening to new music, creating art, reading books, discovering obscure movies from the past. Searching, searching, searching.

What do you wish more people understood about what you actually do?
Nothing more. It’s enough.

What question were you hoping we’d ask that we didn’t?
How are you?

‘Time, Islands and Thresholds‘ is out now on Zel Zele, more info HERE.