Back when The Miracle Seeds first broke cover with Inca Missiles in 2021, they sounded like a group possessed by restless curiosity. Dundee-born but world-minded, weaving strands of Andean folk into modern psych riffs that felt equal parts spiritual and stormy. That record announced them as something special, a project that worked with big ideas and built them into its foundations.
Fast forward to now. A few years of line-up changes, headline shows in Glasgow and London, and a support list that reads like a who’s who of modern psychedelia: Tess Parks, Elephant Stone, The Warlocks. All signs pointed to something brewing.
And it lands here, on Nuclear Watermelon. This is an album designed for live rooms, big amps and bigger spaces. The guitars are bolder, the jams stretch further, the songwriting sharper than ever. Across nine tracks, they’ve pushed the envelope without losing what made them magnetic in the first place.
Let’s drop the needle and see what’s what.
Kicking things off is the all-out assault of ‘I Am the Sherpa’. We talked about this single before release and it still feels like the centrepiece. That lumbering riff, half warning and half invitation, sets the tone. Bass spirals around it, drums play it loose but lock back in just when it needs it. The vocals echo across an imagined Himalayan ridge, never quite revealing their hand. There’s something about the restraint that makes the release hit harder. Each listen unearths a new texture. This song still impresses after umpteen listens. This is how you start an album!
The pace eases back on ‘Float Me’. It’s warmer, almost playful at first glance. Layers of reverb ripple across the guitars, like sunlight reflecting off water. The drums stay gentle but sure, giving the track an undercurrent of quiet urgency. Vocals sit closer to the mic, less distant than on the opener. The chorus rises but doesn’t explode, holding the tension just long enough to keep you leaning in. It’s subtle, but the craft shows. It’s a perfect sunny summer afternoon listen. Shades on, beer in hand and this on the speakers.
‘What You Know’steps forward with an edge from the first few bars. There’s this swirling organ line that winds itself around the reverbed lead guitar, each part nudging the other to greater heights.The chorus opens up just enough to let subtle harmony vocals drift in, adding a warmer layer that softens the edges without losing the bite. The organ and guitar circle around each other again, leading the track out. It’s a dynamic piece that moves with its own unpredictable logic, always shifting but never feeling scattered. You get the sense this one really came alive in rehearsal, tested and shaped until it settled into this perfectly unsteady balance.
Next up we have something different right away. Imagine Pink Floyd, but with teeth. That’s ‘Little Pig’. The groove is deep and loose, built around a bassline that loops like it could go on forever. Guitars swirl out on long tendrils of fuzzed out bliss, scratching at the edges without ever overwhelming the pulse. There’s a laid back, psychedelic drift to it that feels almost effortless, but you can tell it’s been carefully put together. The rhythm section holds everything steady, letting the guitars and vocals stretch out into stranger corners. You catch fragments, hints of something lurking just out of reach. It’s groovy, hypnotic, and more than a little far out. The whole thing feels like it could slide off the rails at any moment, but always pulls back just in time. Oh, these guys are good. No wonder this was chosen as a single.
Built around a soft bossa nova beat, ‘Masquerade Eyes’ drifts into view like late-night smoke curling through a back room. There’s an elegance running through the rhythm, a bongo beat that sways rather than stomps, giving the song an unhurried poise. Guitar lines stay cool and uncluttered, adding flickers of reverb that echo off into the corners of the mix. The bass keeps close to the floor, barely rising above a whisper, letting the groove do the talking. Vocals come in low and half-lit, like a confession shared over the rim of a glass. Words feel like shadows on a wall you can’t quite see directly. Everything carries the hush of a late show in a faded Casablanca nightclub. It’s alluring without trying too hard, mysterious without forcing it. By the time the final notes fall away, you’re left with the sense of something glimpsed through cigarette smoke and half-closed eyes, something you’re not quite meant to catch fully, and that makes it all the more captivating.
A serpentine, sexy slouch towards foreign climes, ‘A Ripple in Time’ moves with an unhurried grace that feels almost liquid. The rhythm section lays down a languid pulse, never rushing, always letting each note settle before the next emerges. Guitar solos wind in and around each other like smoke trails, twisting together then drifting apart. There’s something quietly hypnotic about the way the melodies repeat and reshape themselves, hinting at something familiar before slipping away again. Everything is given space to breathe. Nothing feels crowded or forced. The bass keeps to the edges, while deliberate and nuanced percussive touches fill out the backdrop without ever drawing too much attention. The result is a track that feels both intimate and expansive, as if you’re being led by the hand through a half-remembered landscape. By the end, you’re left somewhere far from where you started, without ever noticing the moment you crossed over.
An ever-escalating trip, ‘Follow the River’ flows forward on swirling guitar lines that twist and fold back on themselves, pulling you along without resistance. Beneath it all, the bassline stays beautifully expressive, rising and dipping in gentle counterpoint, adding colour rather than just holding the rhythm. As the song unfolds, there’s a subtle lift in pace. The beat picks up, almost unnoticed at first, then reveals itself like the rapids you find deeper downstream. That extra push gives the second half a breathless energy without losing the laid-back grace of the opening. Each instrument keeps its own course yet stays locked to the current. By the final stretch, guitars shimmer and spiral outward, letting the rhythm pull everything towards a quietly thrilling close. It feels less like a song that ends and more like a river that simply flows out of sight.
Utterly spellbinding from the first moment, ‘Santiago’ feels like stepping into a warm embrace you never want to leave. Pillowy vocals settle just above the mix, soft and inviting, drawing you closer without ever demanding your attention. Sultry organ tones drift through like slow-moving clouds, adding a richness that anchors the whole track. Guitar lines waft gently around them, never rushing, each phrase stretched out until it dissolves into the next. Everything feels wrapped in a comforting haze. There’s no sharpness here, only a slow, deliberate drift that feels both intimate and endless. By the end the song slips quietly into silence, leaving the warmth still lingering in its place. This track won’t appear on the vinyl release but you will hear it on streaming!
The album comes to a close with ‘Twisted’ landing with a grin and a riff that refuses to sit still. Guitar’s grind and curl around each other, locking into grooves that spark off quick bursts of energy before dropping back again. There’s a playful confidence here, a sense the band know exactly where to push and where to pull back. The rhythm section keeps things punchy, giving the guitars space to roam without ever losing the pulse. What makes it land so well is the way it mirrors the album’s opener, bringing the journey full circle without feeling like a repeat. It’s heavier, rawer and maybe a little more reckless, but it carries that same promise of controlled chaos we first heard on ‘I Am the Sherpa’. A closing note that doesn’t so much end the record as nudge you back to the start for another spin.
Nuclear Watermelon feels like a band growing into their own sound without losing what made them compelling in the first place. The Miracle Seeds build on the psychedelic textures of Inca Missiles, but this time with a stronger sense of purpose and a sharper live energy running through every track. Heavy riffs rub shoulders with swirling organs, and grooves stretch out without drifting off course. It’s an album that invites you in on the first listen but keeps revealing details the more time you spend with it. Confident, well-crafted and never in a rush to impress, Nuclear Watermelon shows The Miracle Seeds hitting their stride and makes you want to see where they go next. If you’ve got an hour, headphones and a taste for a psychedelic journey, let Nuclear Watermelon take you somewhere off the map. Here there be monster riffs!
Nuclear Watermelon is out on July 11th 2025 via Fuzzed Up & Astromoon Records. You can check it out over on The Miracle Seeds Bandcamp Page.
You can follow The Miracle Seeds on social media here ….
Photo Credit
Aneta Maeso
Discover more from Static Sounds Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Static Sounds Club 