Memory Pearl's New Album 'Cosmic-Astral' Reimagines LSD Treatment Music
Joseph Shabason, Mas Aya, Sam Prekop, Alvvays' Alec O'Hanley and more contribute
The original music program sought to take the listener on a cosmic journey of personal discovery through submersion in classical, romantic works by Strauss (Also Sprach Zarathustra), Scriabin (Poème de l'extase) and Holst (Neptune). A release notes that the exercise — its "demanding, complex and unpredictable" sounds recommended for "experienced trippers" — was eventually removed from circulation for being too confrontational.
Fisher-Rozenberg, by comparison, sought to create a score "more delicate and tender" through prioritizing the connection between sound healing and the psyche.
He's enlisted a host of tonal titans to achieve this, including Joseph Shabason, Alvvays guitarist Alec O'Hanley, Sam Prekop, Bram Gielen, Mas Aya and Moritz Fasbender.
"Astral Travel" is the first of Cosmic-Astral's compositions to arrive, and as Fisher-Rozenberg notes, it marks the moment "where the album arch begins to soar." Let the song's vocal synth, foundational Rhodes chords and Shabason's spectral sax move you via the player below.
Cosmic-Astral:
1. Prelude
2. Relaxation Induction
3. Music Travel I
4. Astral Travel
5. Music Travel II
6. Music Travel III
7. Music Travel IV
8. Music Travel V
9. Postlude