Hedersleben - 'Orbit'

This is a band who have developed beautifully.

I have to say, this is such a step forward from their last album I heard, 2015's 'Die Neuen Welten'. That seemed confused and occasionally hackneyed, with just patches of brightness. This is somewhat of a stunner. Why? They've found their sound, and that certainty has enabled them to become front-facing.

Indeed, the San Franciscans, led by ex-UK Subs guitarist Nicky Garrett, can still decide to lose themselves in a dreamy whirl of thick sounds, but here there are oases of excellence to watch them from. 'Judas Star' appears to be there simply to unsettle, so off kilter are the notes, so phased and fractured are the vocals, but 'Walk Above The Clouds' chooses a more straight-ahead, time changing Prog approach with Folky female vocals, almost a scrap of a song, and 'History Of Light' does something which Hedersleben don't seem to have done before... swagger.



It recalls the sadly defunct Purson, with wheezing Hammond and farting, flanged solo joined by super electric Joanna, and 'Be There' uses the Psyche feel to push a (The) Doors-y organ together with some gorgeous harmonies.

This is looking good. 'Rarefied Air' plus 'Perigree' are designed as soothing balms of simplicity, 'Hedersleben (Dreamstate)' is frail and poignant and 'Apogee' is a woozy workout with no sense of the day or time.

This is a band who have developed beautifully, Psyche yes, but more than that, Rock and Folk as well as brown acid with wormhole dialectic! Krysten Bean's voice drifts on the air as Lana Voronina's keys prod it, and Garrett's guitar punctures it. Follow them down that wormhole, it's good to get lost here.

Steve Swift