By their name Evil Astronaut you’d expect some type of menacing sound. That’s not exactly the case. On “Orbit Berlin”, this group from Gothenburg, Sweden shows a calming, developing vein of expansive folk/rock, reminding of earlier Bon Iver and even Sigur Rós (a bit in the vocal spectrum) in tone. “When we finally finished the song 50% of us happened to live in Berlin and the last bit of the song went through a massive transformation in that city,” the band explains. “We thought that by adding the city name to the title, it reflects how much Berlin actually has influenced and helped us finish the song.”
The end of the track, made in Berlin, is my favorite part — when a blaring synth pad emerges just prior to the three-minute mark, with a clanging guitar and distant otherworldly vocals making for a very emotionally stirring sound. The whole thing is good, though this section proves to be a great culmination of the preceding instrumental and melodic elements. The project apparently has plenty of more songs on the way, set to be released throughout the spring, so I’m looking forward to that.
