Riverside, California’s Robert Sesma describes his music as psych-pop, but that sells short the array of influences and sound textures Sesma is able to incorporate into his music. Listeners will quickly spot the influence of acts like Tame Impala, Melody’s Echo Chamber, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Surely, those artists, with their spacey synth layers, driving far-out percussion, and winding vocals, form the foreground of Sesma’s sound, but from there, the record becomes increasingly confident in the sorts of sounds it plays with. Suddenly, the tracks find an influx of bedroom pop influence, as well as shades of dream pop and even shoegaze. The sense we get is an artist who, above all, loves music. “Temporary Thing” is a funky soul track from Robert Sesma’s upcoming Carol EP, releasing in 2024.
Sesma’s ability to capture the expansive nature of psychedelic music and whittle it down to its purest and most honed form allows “Temporary Thing” to unfurl in the middle ground between lush and jagged. The single borrows the warping melodies and hazy tones of psychedelia-tinged lo-fi rock and miraculously flips these otherworldly elements into quaint, bite-sized moments of fuzzed-out bliss. The sharp rhythms juxtapose space-aged vocals in a battle of guitar styles courtesy of Sesma’s wide-ranging prowess. While the arrangement gives the song its space-aged atmosphere, the vocals add to the enticing aurora of “Temporary Thing” just as much. The breezy vocal feel is a soul-cleansing listening experience as Sesma delivers environment-shifting melodies that cascade the honed ambiance of the arrangement beautifully. Sesma’s “Temporary Thing” proves that his expansive sound is far from done growing as warm vocal tones navigate a rugged yet welcoming sonic terrain.