I don’t know what the vibe is like where you’re at, but Toronto is coming off record-high temperatures and the election of yet another right-wing government for another four years. What I mean is that I’m in the mood to relax, and Captain Planet has the remedy. A walking “Recommended Vinyl” section from the best record store you’ve ever been to, the Captain has crafted a tribute to funky, left-field psychedelic traditions from around the world in “Mirage,” his new song featuring Taj Bethel. A lazy river percussive pace gives the song’s centerpiece — its wonderfully meditative guitar licks — room to wrap us in its warm embrace.

Here’s Captain Planet on the song:

For his part, Bethel delivered perhaps the most haunting quote attached to a song premiere that I’ve read in some time: “We ended up creating what sounds, to my ear, like the internal dialogue of someone who is desperate for water, but has been holding a glass the entire time.” Damn. I’m going to hold my head in my hands for ~20 minutes, but you can listen to the song below.