Interstellar

It’s not surprising to learn that Denis Dufour and Rob Boak formed Interstellar to explore various musical avenues; their sophomore release touches on such a wide range of musical styles that as soon as you attempt to put a label on their electronic sound, it will become null and void by the next track. Recorded over a period of three years, and in several of Dufour’s "constantly changing bedrooms” in Toronto, it’s hard to imagine how the changing surroundings couldn’t have affected the sound of ToSleepToDreamToWake. The album contains varying degrees of jazz, psychedelia and electro-pop, which are often aided by atmospheric guitar or synthesiser textures to enhance its up-tempo electronic lustre. One could expect the jumps between tracks to be somewhat jarring, but the duo create the transitions, such as the sedative dub beat of "Hawaiian Rehab” to the soulful groove of "Painting and Kissing,” with relative ease. While comprising an album of similar sounds can offer a certain safety net, the diversity of tracks on this release prove there are beneficial outcomes for taking risks and defying convention.