Hidden Shoal Recordings have announced the official CD release of the debut album by Australian dream-pop duo City of Satellites.
On Machine Is My Animal, City of Satellites deliver on the exceptional promise of their debut EP The Spook – and then some. This pristine album synthesizes ’80s pop aesthetics with ’00s production values to create a truly monumental sound. From the Eastern-influenced synth lines of superb opener ‘BMX’ to the crystalline drift of closer ‘Sky Rider’, Machine Is My Animal carries the listener through a glistening science fiction future, as viewed from a wistful child’s window.
On single ‘Stranger Than Fiction’, swirling synth sounds, Thomas Diakomichalis’ propulsive drumming and Jarrod Manuel’s pure vocal tones glide beautifully. Its aching melodies to the fore, the song taking heartrending turns before dissolving into the ether. ‘Skeletons’ glides and weaves like a hovercar over the course of seven levitating minutes, before the epic title track stomps across a dystopian future like a Transformer with a conscience, its robot heart bleeding as its surveys the devastation it has wrought. This balance between cold synthesized tones and a warm emotional heart creates a delicious balance throughout.
“Australia’s new finest dream-pop duo ascend to orbit… City Of Satellites venture beyond the troposphere on their debut CD Machine Is My Animal. Hazy, ethereal vocals and magisterial synth soundscapes wrap the sensors like rich ice cream upon pressing play… Manuel’s Air-redolent, multitracked vocals are angelic for the lack of a better description… the album radiates glacial atmospherics not heard in this country since the halcyon days of otherworldly Tasmanians The Paradise Motel.” – Rave Magazine
Machine Is My Animal is available now through Hidden Shoal Recordings. The album is distributed in Australia through Hidden Shoal Distribution and in the US and Europe via n5Mailorder. The album is available digitally through the Hidden Shoal Store and all good third-party digital music stores (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, LaLa etc).
Read a full press release here and stream the album in full as well as check all CD and digital availability here.
City of Satellites – BMX City of Satellites – BMX