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Dreaming in Pink by The Astronomical Miracle–Album Review
Dreaming in Pink by The Astronomical Miracle–Album Review
Corey Light, the artist known as The Astronomical Miracle, describes this ambitious work as psychedelic acid folk, which is an apt description for a complicated LP like this. He wrote, arranged, and composed every song on this well-thought-out and expertly crafted work.
Dreaming in Pink starts out with the title track, which immediately illustrates his style and exuberance. It begins with a lightly strumming guitar mixed with flute and vocals that seem to weave in and out of the ether. The percussion on this cut is really interesting.
“Atomic City” features a steady, almost monotone vocal that’s intertwined with high-pitched backup vocals and a complicated mix of instrumentation that yields a song haunting in its scope and perception.
The third cut is “The Offering”, which begins subtly while it builds in intensity and strength. The track ends on a light, whimsical note with the vocals being both angelic and cryptic.
By the time you hear “Time Travel Blues”, you’re hooked into the artist’s particular technique and approach. The song begins with what appear to be bongos or conga drums but could easily be a type of synthesized pulsation. It soon transcends into mellow vocals accompanied by scratchy percussion before speeding up and stopping abruptly.
The bouncing and bubbly sound of “Cosmic Sundae” gives this track a festival-like atmosphere with vocals sounding like a carny pitchman calling out to unsuspecting rubes in the audience. The tempo picks up as an interesting acoustic guitar riff dominates.
“Restful Forest” is anything but restful, as it creates the illusion of being in a deep jungle complete with all the complex sights and sounds of the exotic animals inhabiting therein.
“Bad Memories” opens quietly with soft, echo-laden vocals over special sound effects and a light, lilting guitar. The guitar and drums work miraculously well together toward the end of this.
“Lucifer’s Circus” is a great example of how to drift seamlessly between terror and delight. The nasally lead vocals are engulfed by a cacophony of chants and backup vocals while the song builds to a crescendo of demonic or angelic persuasion, depending on your perception.
On “Fortune”, the vocals are reminiscent of Randy Seol of the Strawberry Alarm Clock. This is a straightforward song in which the vocals melt into a mixture of well-thought-out instrumentation.
“Living Rock” starts with acoustic guitar set to a sing-song pattern of lead vocals accented by the flute. The tempo hastens while the guitar and vocals keep a steady pace. The acoustic ending is highly enjoyable.
“Hang ups” builds into a medium-tempo rhythm with some nice guitar work and gives off a happy, upbeat vibe.
“Red Coat Spotlight” has a somewhat subterranean feel to it. It’s a bit dark and brooding. Halfway through, the vocals get pushed to the background as the flute and percussion take the lead.
“The Hello Game” has some high-pitched vocals over what can only be explained as a faint series of street conversations that dissolve into flute and percussion that eventually give way to the vocals before the fade.
The album’s final cut, “Take Me Down”, feature raspy creature-esque vocals that are a unique departure from the rest of the LP. Weirdly, they almost act as a bass line for the intricate combination of sound effects, vocals, and guitar.
Dreaming in Pink is set to be released on July 29th of this year on the Tape Stack label.
Related: The Astronomical Miracle: Records & Love–album review
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1 thought on “Dreaming in Pink by The Astronomical Miracle–Album Review”
Your kind words have pushed my heart into overdrive. Thank you for listening and thanks to all the heads at Psychedelic Scene for keeping music alive!!