Afterlife - Shikasta (2014) FLAC

The new Afterlife album is called Shikasta. The title comes from the name given to planet earth by an extra terrestrial civilisation in a series of space fiction books by Doris Lessing. The work is, as expected, beautifully produced, relaxed music, featuring various moods and textures and two distinctive voices, long time collaborator Rachel Lloyd and ex Nightmares on Wax singer Ella May. There are deep instrumental moments too, like the soon to be sunset classic, Dust, and generally calm, other worldly atmosphere to the whole LP, which is best listened to from beginning to end.

"The music is a reflection of what you see," says Steve. "You get emotions from your environment and they appear in the music. The instrumentals are deep, inner thoughts, the vocal tracks are more outward looking.”