Diamond Jubilee is the seventh studio album from Cindy Lee, the hypnagogic pop project created by Canadian musician Patrick Flegel. At its most impressive, Diamond Jubilee showcases Flegel’s uncanny ability to not only emulate but embody a specific point in time. If someone told me that “Dreams of You” and “Always Dreaming” were released in the late 60s by an obscure psychedelic folk rock band, I would have believed them. Through their haunting vocals, their distortion-rich guitar work, and a fuzzy, lo-fi haze that coats the entire project, Flegel transforms these nostalgic references into an otherworldly, almost ghostly soundscape. However, Diamond Jubilee also boasts an ambitious and patience-testing runtime of over two hours, which occasionally gives this ghostly soundscape more of a purgatory-like quality. Thankfully, Flegel never dwells on one idea for too long, and thus preserves the listenability of this towering, ethereal epic of an album.
– Melanie Larson
4.5/5
