TRANS​-​NEPTUNIAN OBJECTS

It must be said that I was not the biggest fan of the Italian quartet's debut release in 2023, but they are already back with their second and I was intrigued to see how they had progressed. I am not quite sure what has happened but the same line-up of Andrea Serino ? (piano, keyboards), Andrea Ferrari (guitars), Andrea Grumelli (bass) and Teo Ravelli (drums & electronics) has this time managed to hit the mark on everything they are doing, with the result being an album which is far more interesting and compelling than the debut. This album was inspired by science fiction and space travel and the band say the tracks are designed to be suggestions of dreamlike messages, sent into space in search of alien listeners.

I can certainly understand what they mean with that comment as there really is a sense of space, and of being out in the cosmos and if someone was to use parts of this as a soundtrack to a voyage among the stars I would totally agree. Camel is a good point of reference, and possibly Weather Report, as this is dream and reflective instrumental music which just manages to stay on the progressive side of ambient without drifting too far into the New Age. Although the music can be somewhat fragile there is a core of inner strength, and a sense of direction as opposed to just meandering along. Each of the musicians are given their time to shine and the results is something which can be quite Floydian while there are also some elements of Øresund Space Collective and possibly even Ozrics. This is an intriguing album to relax to on headphones at the end of the day.