It's rather a heart-warming feeling to acknowledge that even in 2025, there are still artists in the Music Wide World that still appreciate the ground breaking contribution to 70's Rock Psychedelia of an inspired, although very emotionally fragile artist like Roger Keith Barrett, better known as Syd, guitarist, singer-songwriter and co-founder of one of the most loved Rock bands of the last century, Pink Floyd.
Although Barrett's short-lived career in the music industry was heavily corroded by heavy usage of drugs and mental illness, it's indisputable that Syd Barrett had a very singular approach to song-writing and performing style, employing also a generous use of echoes, feedback and distortions in his compositions, with some truly surprising results.
Somebody that has always looked at Barrett as an inspiration, in terms of being a forward-thinking, visionary artist in his time, both as a songwriter and as an avant-garde sonic explorer, is the Italian Electro/Synth composer and singer/songwriter Eugene, who, for a long time, wanted to pay a personal homage to one of the true Maestros of 70's Psychedelia.
Truth to be told, Eugene had already released, some time ago, a cover of Love You, one of the songs included in Barrett's debut album The Madcap Laughs as part of a compilation to which various artists participated and called Love You - A Tribute To Syd Barrett, released by an independent label; that contribution, it might as well been the starting point of Eugene's new release, an EP aptly called Sydereal, dedicated completely to Syd Barrett's own body of work.
The EP, which together with the previously released Love You track also include 3 more songs, Golden Hair and Effervescing Elephant from Barrett's solo discography plus Eugene's own take on Pink Floyd's Astronomy Domine' (from Pink Floyd's debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn), while it may sound a bit random, in terms of song selection, it has instead, in our website's point of view, a specific Raison D'Etre, very likely aiming to highlight the eclectic approach to Barrett to composition, as a meditating and often erratic lyricist but armed, at the same time, with a disarming humour that some would not necessarily associate to somebody like Barrett, as evidently displayed in songs like Effervescing Elephant, for example.
Eugene's versions of all the songs included in Sydereal is certainly very respectful of the originals, although the Italian Electro Genius manages very cleverly to lift the 4 tracks, especially from a sonic perspective, in a more contemporary way, making them sound more as a product of Eugene's own approach to music, without altering the structure in which the songs were originally written.
Whilst Eugene delivers all songs perfectly well, as a singer, a special mention goes to the EP's opener, Golden Hair, where Eugene's vocals are dressed with remarkable intensity, showing clearly how much more confident the Italian artist has become, as a singer, with each passing record.
Sydereal is a labour of love coming from a genuine music lover, like Eugene, that has always looked at Barrett's songbook as the ultimate statement of artistic creativity that transcends times and generations, an aspect that most certainly transpires in the way that the Italian singer/songwriter approaches music, every time he works on new material or, in this instance, on other artists' covers. If Barrett would have been still with us, he would have certainly approved and applauded the way Eugene worked so passionately on this mini, but precious EP.
Sydereal is out now and it is available to be purchased via Eugene Official Bandcamp Page