Triptides’ new album Shapeshifter doesn’t just play—it radiates. Like a prism catching sunrise light over the Pacific, the record washes over you in waves of incandescent psychedelia, flickering with Wurlitzer warmth, Farfisa flares, and a technicolor swirl of celestial harmonies. It’s a body-high in sonic form, a laid-back yet spiritually charged voyage that feels like floating a few inches above your living room floor.
Leading the charge is “Connection,” released today (May 16) as a preview of what’s to come when Shapeshifter lands in full this June. The track is a pulsing, transcendental jam born from frontman Glenn Brigman’s psilocybin-fueled studio lock-in. “I was possessed by visions of a mid-century transistor organ being driven by a pulsing, motorik beat,” he recalls. What emerged is pure voltage: a lightning storm of groove, reverb, and unspoken understanding—a unification of souls across space and time.
The track headlines a new EP also out today, collecting recent singles and two unreleased gems. As a standalone, “Connection” glows with that vintage Triptides essence: dreamy, hypnotic, and deceptively meticulous.
Across 14 years and a kaleidoscope of albums, Triptides have carved out their own lane—equal parts West Coast haze and cosmic jazz lounge. Brigman’s ear for melody is uncanny, seemingly able to pluck harmonies out of thin air and bend them to his will. Whether channeling Laurel Canyon folk, sun-drenched psych rock, or spaced-out bossa, the band always sounds like Triptides—no one else.
Shapeshifter marks another solo-heavy chapter for Brigman, who wrote, performed, produced, and mixed the album himself from a forest-bound studio in the San Bernardino Mountains. “It’s back in the woods, and it’s nice putting noise out into the void,” he muses. Each track started with keys and a click—then drums, guitar, piano, vocals, and “all that jazz” followed, often blurring eight-hour sessions into something timeless.
The result is a low-gravity dream sequence dressed in analog textures, where every synth pulse and chime feels guided by intuition. It’s less an album you listen to and more one you tune into—a gently burning psych-folk tapestry that turns your speakers into stained glass.
Triptides haven’t just returned with Shapeshifter—they’ve evolved. And if “Connection” is the first inhale, the rest of the album promises a full-on cosmic exhale.