‘11 11 (Me, Smiling)’ is the new release from The Interplanetary Acoustic Team. Released on the record label Moonlake Records, this interesting and innovative album is a true wonder to hear. On their website, The Interplanetary Acoustic Team describe ’11 11 (Me, Smiling)’ as: “Ilyse Kusnetz leads us on a lyric meditation that spans the universe, encompassing everything from the Big Bang to the creation of life as we know it to cybernetics to the uploading of human consciousness for a journey into the unknown.” This is an accurate description of what is to be heard but no amount of words could do it justice!
The album opens with the track, ’11 11’. We first hear record player crackles which have a beat cleverly embedded in them. We hear funky electric guitar bends, synths and the aforementioned crackles coming and going. The bass is full of character and is the unexpected star of the track. It takes the lead towards the end and carries the song through. We adored the horns on ’11 11’, they rise and chirp along, stereo in each ear giving luscious harmonies to feed the soul.
The musicianship is to an incredibly high standard on every single track. The parts have been cleverly arranged to take the lead or to and sit back and be an accompaniment when needed. The instruments weave in-between each other seamlessly. Blissful.
Spoken word is a theme which comes and goes throughout ‘11 11 (Me, Smiling)’. Cleverly, the chosen snippets take centre stage over the musical accompaniment with hard hitting, impactful statements. There is talk of “Co-evolution’ between humans and computer, ‘Cyborgs’ and ‘The Stars’. These are important, futuristic and thought provoking subjects which need to be talked about. Partly in fantasy, there is a deep message running through all of the tracks and the conversation has been introduced beautifully here.
The final song, ‘’Goodbye Earth Goodbye Solar System’ refers to the Big Bang. A faint riffs comes in and out, the distorted tuning in the background and sounds imploding in on themselves all add the feeling of the end of the world as we know it. It is an epic 11 minutes in length, there are again carefully chosen spoken word parts and well played instrumentation. The acoustic guitars, female vocals and electric guitar riffs make the track shine and there is an influence of Pink Floyd to be heard.
One thing is for sure, any amount of description does not do this album justice! It must be heard to be believed, so check out this record today!
Reviewed by FVReviews September 2018
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