Orchestra Of Spheres Brothers And Sisters Of The Black Lagoon

Despite their apolitical disposition, Orchestra Of Spheres still manage to create music that evokes the darker times we’re living in, as well as peddling a certain type of bouncy but abrasive, cross-genre dance music employed by the likes of ESG et al. Explain the band: “It’s a time of remote war, mass deceit and money worship, and somehow the mood of the time filtered into these recordings.”

Their abstract interpretation of political music is manifested in the occasionally eerie, downbeat instrumental tracks such as ‘Day At The Beach’, ‘Reel World’ and the particularly sinister ‘Let Us Not Forget’, all of which counteract the more sprightly dance-inspired tracks here with satisfying cohesion.

The esoteric hybrid of Sun Ra otherworldliness, part Sublime Frequencies and part ESG, sounds like an exciting coalition on paper, but in reality ‘Brothers And Sisters Of The Black Lagoon’ is frustratingly tuneless and lacking in spirit for the most part. Combining expertly crafted, dark, melodic dance music with spectral instrumentals creates a clever juxtaposition for those who care about the boring technicalities of music, but ultimately, they prevail most when things sound a little less doom and gloom.