Mandrake Handshake

“Funk-filled psychedelic-leaning bop” DIY

“A cyclonic tour de force” The Line Of Best Fit

“If Mandrake Handshake keep planting stars, a universal shift is imminent” So Young Magazine

“New Banger” NME

“An intoxicating proposition that has to be heard to be believed” Dork

“Skittering rhythms, bloody synths and psychedelic harmonies” The Independent

“Mandrake Handshake melt together Syd Barrett psychedelia alongside more modern touchstones – think Tony Allen rhythms, Unknown Mortal Orchestra electronics and more” Clash

“An experimental collective shimmering some of the most fluid, and hypnotising psychedelics in funk-rock music right now” Gigwise

“Time slowing sensation” I Paper

“Psych goodness…as if it’s guiding you into a grotto where a secret underground party is going on” Beats Per Minute

Hypnotic psych-collective Mandrake Handshake release brand new EP ‘The Triple Point Of Water’ today (November 18th) via Glasshouse Records (For Breakfast, Burden Limbs, Christina Lopez).

Originally formed in Oxford, the now London-based group were christened after a song by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, incorporating their influences of krautrock, funk, Japanese animation and Latin pastoral poetry to create a unique brand of ‘Flowerkraut’ that certainly defines their sound.

The follow-up to debut EP ‘Shake The Hand That Feeds You’, released last year via Nice Swan Records (Pip Blom, English Teacher, Opus Kink), ‘The Triple Point Of Water’ has already spawned lead singles ‘Emonzaemon’ and ‘Vitamin Sunday’, and marks a significant development in the band’s self-honed style of ‘Flowerkraut’. The triptych unleashes a hedonistic brain-frying feast of Krautrock, art-pop and psychedelia, spiced with enigmatic grooves and fearless improvisations. Riff-shredding odes to fictional ninjas tussle seamlessly with psych-pop romances on the complexities of human love. Suspenseful french-noir experimentation explodes into triumphant motorik’ing propulsions about toppling-fascism and aggressive, counter-pressing football.

Detailing their EP, the band explained: “The Triple Point Of Water, a single combination of pressure and temperature at which liquid water, solid ice, and water vapor can coexist in a stable equilibrium, occurs at exactly 273.1600 k (0.0100 °c; 32.0180 °f). At this precise point, it is possible to change all of the substance to ice, water, or steam by making the smallest, arbitrary changes in its environment. That’s to say, it is a thermodynamic knife-edge: an axial transient state, equally ready to instantiate any of the states of matter but ultimately not bound to any one of them. 

It is this juxtaposition of dynamic potential yet delicate balance that initially seduced the avid glare of the mandrake, who was ever keener to flaunt her newly honed live sound on a record of substance. The opportunity this provided was too irresistible - could such a powerful equilibrium be mastered? Could it be stretched, bent and warped to our will, before serenely returning to this point of balance? The mandrake didn’t ponder this long, for she was already running headlong into the challenge…”

With widespread acclaim already from countless key indie press titans (NME, NPR, The Independent, DIY, The Line Of Best Fit, Dork, So Young, Clash, Loud & Quiet, Rough Trade, Gigwise), and several BBC Radio 1 (Jack Saunders) spins behind them, psych risers’ formidable ascent shows no signs of slowing down.

Following a string of memorable festival shows at the likes of Green Man, Wide Awake and Left Of The Dial over the summer months, Mandrake Handshake’s live plans continue this autumn with an EP launch party show at London’s Paper Dress Vintage on November 19th.

Mandrake Handshake’s ‘The Triple Point Of Water’ (EP) is out now via Glasshouse Records and available on all digital platforms.

‘The Triple Point Of Water’ (EP) Tracklist
01 - Emonzaemon
02 - Vitamin Sunday
03 - Row’s Tinted Glasses / Diogo Jota

Mandrake Handshake is Row Janjuah (guitar), Trinity Oksana (vocals), Elvis Thirlwell (percussion), Eva Mae Symonds (backing vocals), Charlie Arrowsmith (guitar), Jake Kavanagh (bass), Shan Sriharan (synth), David Howard-Baker (organ), Joe Bourdier (drums)