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Out now via Pod / Inertia

There is a helluva lot of nervous energy and ADD going on with this album from Randolph Chabot’s Deastro. Essentially electronic pop, it incorporates elements of  indie that take it away from chart pop and into some different fantasy headspace. It is a giddy rush through sparkling synths and cascading drum patterns that impresses in its scope but doesn’t necessarily connect with the mind or the feet.

Vocally Chabot sits somewhere between a deadpan Bernard Sumner, the earnest Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) and the angst of Faker. His song titles are soaked in sci-fi and and created imagery. ‘Toxic Crusaders’, ‘Biophelia’, ‘Vermillion Plaza’ and ‘Tree Frog’ all sound like they could be episodes of Doctor Who.

When Deastro wins the struggle with song structure and applies some focus to the songs he shows he can create a catchy song. ‘Daniel Johnston Was Stabbed In The Heart With The Moondagger By The King Of Darkness And His Ghost Is Writing This Song As A Warning To All Of Us’ wins the longest song title and it also possesses a tasty soaring chorus that drives it along. ‘Moondagger’ chops and drops with a nice rhythmic cleverness and ‘Parallelogram’ is the best indie pop moment with the gorgeous half time melody that permeates it.

Though only 49 minutes long (including bonus tracks) Moondagger does somehow manage to feel overlong, especially when sitting and specifically listening to it rather than having it playing in the background. A good attempt at marrying modern indie with classic electronic pop, it impresses at times but ultimately it feels like an over-ambitious album. Some self editing and restraint will see Deastro improve greatly next time around.