Here’s another band from Ukraine, the psychedelic rock ensemble called ME’LERON, who released their English-language album “R” in 2017. The opening track “So Dear To Me” is a psychedelic riff’n’radio-pop anthem.

“So Dear To Me” here sounds somewhat adjacent at times to the music of bands like Oh Sees, Tame Impala, Dungen and Amon Düül II, with its riff-heavy psychedelic rock and sweetly melodic chorus.

However, one of the band’s stated influences is Fleetwood Mac, so the album also takes a more sun-dazed melodic rock tangent on a few tracks before the heavy psychedelics kick in again for the trippy instrumental closer “Amorousness“.

There’s also an excellent three song ME’LERON release from 2019 called “Мелимоноль” which is recommended as well.

ME’LERON are from Poltava, which is just south-west of Kharkiv, one of the Northern Ukraine cities to have suffered so much of the terrible Russian bombardment so far in this war of aggression from Russia. Poltava has a similar population to Wellington in NZ, and has a round central city ‘square’, like Dunedin’s Octagon. Here’s hoping the members of ME’LERON are safe and have a chance to resume their music “from the very heart and soul of love, peace and joy” sometime in the future when this insanity ends.