Written by: Mike Dimitriou

French musician, producer Emanuel Mario aka Astrobal is set to release his new solo EP Memories of Stars on November 24 via Karaoke Kalk records.

The Parisian music man burst onto the scene in his native France through collaborations and production work with some of the country’s most cutting edge artists, like Laeticia Sadier (Stereolab), Institut, and Hyperclean to mention a few.

There’s no coincidence at all that the Stereolab songstress features on the lead single “Australasie” as Emmanuel Mario’s work as a producer and drummer for Sadier has left an enduring legacy, rendering some of the most singular work from the iconic French chanteuse. And it’s all beautifully floating in space by such a convenient navigation that it comforts fellow travelers through musical spaces, comets and planets.  It’s space pop on a slow wave and the pace of the whole EP is a spacious and textured trip.

“Australasie” is the opener and it’s a slow pop single with Sadier’s voice welcoming the tribes on board and actually explaining the whole of the trip as we are slowly taking off…

…and as we are now in orbit captain Emanuel and the crew offer the next tune, Belle comme la nuit, an easy listening, astral-groovy piece while we unfasten out of our seats and observe the sonic cosmos outside–an electronic song for socializing to spread the stellar positive energy.

“Le souvenir des etoiles” works as a sonic space station–it’s one-minute-eighteen-seconds of listening to the captain from the speakers giving further directions towards Tangerine Dream, the deepest musical episode in the EP. So discreetly loaded with a lot of sonic figures and many effects, it’s like a moving picture that doesn’t hide anything, as we enjoy here the arranging skills of captain Emmanuel Mario, giving us a cocktail of high quality delights. The song comes straight out of the dedicated French electronic style–it’s progressive, catchy and melodic. Last comes “Australasie II” the aural epilogue that’s awash with cyber spoken word and smooth synths.

Memories of Stars is an exciting record which includes gorgeous thrills, a deluxe sound and a clear and certain plan: to enjoy slow wave electronic music in such an easy, astral environment that, you’ll want to replay it.

And you will–because as soon as it ends you are already in the mood to take the trip again.

Keep Up With Astrobal:

Official Site

Facebook

Bandcamp

Spotify

Soundcloud

Twitter