Anyone familiar with the work of Ben “Baby” Copperhead will be pleasantly surprised, a little shocked, maybe, at what they heard on Catch a Cold, his fifth studio recording and his first since 2023’s Wailing Viridescence. The psychedelic folk, tinged with the odd pop sensibility and a voracious appetite for unique arrangements and instrumentation that he’s known for, haven’t gone anywhere; in fact, they’re amplified and more sophisticated, resulting in his most ambitious record so far.
Copperhead plays nearly all the instruments on Catch a Cold—guitars, banjo, bass, synthesiser, violin, percussion, electronics, and drum machine—and is joined by Brent Arnold, who plays cello on two songs, and Euan Rodger, who plays drums on six of the record’s nine songs. “Fainted Sea” kicks things off with a gentle groove and arrangements that favor Copperhead’s acoustic guitar, giving the song a true psych-folk vibe. The multifaceted arrangement of songs like “Pigeons of the Sun”—acoustic guitar strums mixed with electric licks and subtle hints of violin—evokes a tripped-out journey, albeit one suffused with warm melodies.
It’s difficult to make comparisons to other artists because Copperhead seems to have mined a genre that is uniquely his own. However, there are certainly nods to early Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, not to mention the oddball collegiate psychedelia of Robyn Hitchcock. The dramatic, cinematic balladry of “Off the Cliff” meshes beautifully with gentle, reflective instrumentals like “Meeting of the Owls (Flaco’s Journey Home)” and the bizarre, playful buzz of “Projector Xenon”.
Never content to sit tight with a particular type of song, the title track indulges in more of Copperhead’s trademark psychedelic moves, but with a slightly more modern touch that sounds like a sinister, obscure Pulp B-side. “Buzzard Canyon”, meanwhile, fully indulges in Copperhead’s love of country twang. Throughout Catch a Cold, there is an eclectic, adventurous nature to the music. The songs seem uniformly shot through with the admitted influence of jazz legends like John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Thelonious Monk. There are also bits of musique concrete and classical edges here and there, giving the album a truly eclectic and utterly unclassifiable feel.
Catch a Cold sees Ben “Baby” Copperhead truly embracing what it means to make music with no stylistic boundaries, as one genre deftly blends into another. It’s a beautiful, ambitious piece of music that takes cues from a variety of artists yet is completely its own sound.