There’s no roadmap and no safety net on Right Now!, the third studio album from the Third Mind. But for this shape-shifting psychedelic collective, that’s exactly the point.

Led by Dave Alvin, whose roots in the Blasters helped define West Coast roots-rock, this all-star unit thrives on instinct. Bassist Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven), drummer Michael Jerome (Richard Thompson), guitarist David Immerglück (Counting Crows), and singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes join Alvin in a creative leap that feels more séance than session. “It’s five musicians walking a tightrope,” says Alvin. “Improvising in dialogue with each other and finding the songs in real time.”

Recorded live in Los Angeles over four days with no rehearsals, no pre-arranged charts, and barely a conversation, the album lives up to its name. It’s a swirling, genre-fluid collage of blues, folk, garage rock, and soul, delivered with both urgency and restraint. The covers are deep cuts with deeper meaning: Elizabeth Cotten’s “Shake Sugaree,” Pharoah Sanders’ exploratory spirit, and Otis Rush’s slow-burn emotion all refracted through the group’s kaleidoscopic lens. There's also a new original from Sykes and Alvin, “Before We Said Goodbye,” that threads wistful beauty through the chaos.

For all its looseness, Right Now! is never indulgent. These are not jam-band excursions or ego-driven solos. They’re spontaneous compositions built in real time, but guided by a songwriter’s ear. “We know how to read each other by now,” says Krummenacher of the band’s chemistry, which has deepened since their 2020 debut and follow-up The Third Mind 2 in 2023. “If you impose too much structure on a project like this, you stand a chance of screwing it all up.”

That free-form ethos traces back to the band’s very formation - an experiment in creative trust inspired by Miles Davis’ electric period, where the only rule was to show up and follow the music. They record in a circle, all facing each other, often nailing takes in two or three passes. “It’s simultaneously the most old-fashioned and most modern way we could make a record,” Alvin notes.

But while Right Now! draws heavily from the 1960s, the album carries an unexpected gravity that feels grounded in today’s fractured world. Krummenacher points to a “darkness beneath the surface” that crept into the performances, giving them an edge and immediacy that speaks to more than just the past. The album art, an intricate collage by Lou Beach, echoes that layered tension.

This is music made without a net, but not without purpose. It’s present, porous, and open to interpretation - not just of old songs, but of the world itself.