Alphanaut (a.k.a. Mark Alan) is no Tears For Fears. However, he is definitely a thinking man\u2019s pop musician. His debut Out Of Orbit<\/i> might be flavored generously with \u201880s synth-pop grooves, but it is definitely not a frivolous record. As a matter of fact, apart from the first three tracks on Orbit<\/i>, which cover all the necessary requirements for a radio-friendly track with their cheery tempos, the rest of the album is a mellow and relaxed psychedelic trip for the pondering.<\/p>\n
With Orbit\u2019s<\/i> overall unflinchingly \u201880s appeal, there is no denying that it is borne out of an undeniable love for synth-pop. But merely putting Orbit<\/i> in the synth-pop rubric is too simplistic for a record that brings into harmony a diverse range of sounds and styles that transcend what is commonly perceived of this genre. Amid its synth-pop backdrop, \u201cSatellites Crashing,\u201d for instance, starts off with a dreamy trumpet piece that lasts for the length of the track, marrying seamlessly with some upright bass and laidback whispering drums, and makes it more of a jazzy downtempo piece. But then the track\u2019s female spoken words, which brim with \u201880s kitsch, bring it to an unclassifiable middle ground.<\/p>\n
Orbit\u2019s<\/i> psychedelic bone <\/i>is one that is recognizable. This sort of \u201cPink Floyd\u201d sound, with lazy and dreamy guitars, is a big part of this record. Complimenting the atmospheric keyboards, these guitar arrangements also make the music more heterogeneous and richer, not to mention real. With the appetite of a concept record, Orbit<\/i> is moody. But the album doesn\u2019t become overly intense or self-indulgent with pointless long numbers or needless fillers. It does have slow ambient pieces like \u201cAL 424-15\u201d and \u201cNight Blind\u201d that cross this path, but they end before they start getting boring. <\/p>\n
But there is also a side \u2013 although small but significant \u2013 to Orbit<\/i> that is happily a product of the NewWave movement, and tracks like \u201cTimid Creatures,\u201d \u201cSafe And White,\u201d and \u201cNever Been To Athens\u201d have the \u201880s danceability of a Duran Duran track. But whether they have the same timeless appeal is highly questionable. Of all the vestiges of the \u201880s era on this record, it is Alan\u2019s vocals that are saddled with the most awkwardness. His overly throaty singing, which bears resemblance to The The\u2019s Matt Johnson and Human League\u2019s Philip Oakey, often sounds too choked up when he tries squeezing too many words together in one breath, thus sounding blunderingly onerous.<\/p>\n
Alan, along with his guitar player Ted Scarlett, has done a commendable job at producing this record. However, its rich musical body lacks sophistication \u2013 a crisp sound \u2013 which might go unnoticed or even complement raw guitar-based music, but for an album of such complexity is absolutely paramount. One can get used to the vocal gaffes, but the need for better production work on this record is harder to avoid. Alphanaut is definitely no Tears For Fears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":30355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8588],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-42015","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-alphanaut","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42015"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}