Psilocybin Common Denominator in Several Recent Albums

Psilocybin mushrooms are the inspiration or vibe of a handful of highly-anticipated albums and music projects that are recently released or slated to drop within the next few months. As psychedelic decriminalization continues to unfold at the state level, artists are getting more comfortable with talking about their psilocybin experiences.

Björk, Ellie Goulding, Kid Cudi, and Lil Nas X all say that psilocybin is part of the mix in recent music-related projects.

Björk’s new overtly psychedelic album Fossora, was released on Sept. 30 via One Little Independent Records.

The album, by her own admission, is a direct “ode to mushrooms.” “It’s something that lives underground, but not tree roots,” Björk told Pitchfork. “A tree root album would be quite severe and stoic, but mushrooms are psychedelic and they pop up everywhere. My fungus period has been bubbly and fun, with a lot of dancing.”

The title is derived from Latin, loosely meaning “she who digs.” The cover art to Fossora is exceptionally trippy. On the cover, Björk wears a wig created by Tomihiro Kono that resembles mycelium, and she wears a bodysuit dress created by Paris-based designer Jisoo Baik.

Kid Cudi’s new animated special and album Entergalactic were named after a song of the same name that was inspired by psilocybin mushrooms. “I want a song that truly embodies the tone,” Cudi said. “And, like, ‘Entergalactic,’ from Man on the Moon, is a love song. It’s about me meeting this girl that I like, and we were doing shrooms for the first time.” 

The song is gaining new life after it was originally released on Cudi’s 2009 debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, entitled “Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part I).”

Entergalactic is also the name of Kid Cudi’s eighth studio album. Anyone familiar with Kid Cudi’s work knows that he focuses on psychedelic experiences frequently, and designs his music videos to be watched while under the influence.

Entergalactic the animated project and album were released on September 30—the same day Björk’s mushroom-inspired album dropped.

Speaking on episode 408 of The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1, English pop star Ellie Goulding discussed her new album Higher Than Heaven and a variety of topics including psilocybin, which she says is one of the inspirations for her new album.

Goulding explained that she was going through it when she was recording Higher than Heaven amid the COVID lockdown.

The album, she says, is about escapism and psilocybin-induced love. “That’s exactly what this album is. It requires a certain amount of pain to go through to write what I write,” she told Lowe. “This album is ultimate escapism about being completely, insanely in love. There’s a lot of sexuality in there.”

“It’s almost like a psilocybin-induced love,” Goulding explained. Sheg rarely talks about topics like magic mushrooms in interviews, and generally adopts a clean public image.

Last year, Lil Nas X released his album Montero which spawned the number one single of the same name. He explained to WSJ Magazine that his album was inspired by psilocybin mushrooms. “I was able to open up a lot,” Nas told WSJ Magazine. “I was able to write actual stories about my life and put it into my music. I actually did that for the first time.”

Grab one of these albums and enjoy—but remember that set and setting are key when dealing with something as powerful as psilocybin.