ASTRAL MAGIC – INTERSTELLAR RELATIONS (2024) (Bandcamp)

The Astral Magic family continues to grow, to 11 musicians in total as this prolific group led by multi-instrumentalist/ mixer/ producer Santtu Leakso continues to explore spiral galaxies and all things space related. A music video of the forerunning single ‘Mystery’, with a significant contribution from guest guitarist Gregory Curvey, tells you what to expect, the fuller band sound creating a panoramic, atmospheric and potent brand of space rock. ‘Northern Lights’ is irresistibly infectious and Shane Beck’s spoken word enhances the 8-minute title track. Likewise, Jay Tausig’s flute appears here and there to good effect, softening the hard edges of the largely synth (Santtu is joined by Alisa Coral on synths on six of the tracks) and guitar driven music (Jonathan Segal on three and Vince Cory on lead guitar on the title track). The album is nicely bookended by two short synth pieces.