The mysteries of space have long nestled within the orbit of fascination for intrepid songwriters and has led to some of the most otherworldly music the planet has known. “Star Ride” humbly seeks to join this space conquering tradition in music as it is released Today, May 22nd.
It scores the heavens with soaring harmonies, glammed up jangly guitar riffage, while summoning up the avatars of those who previously swapped spandex for a space suit. The instrumental section manages to weave in the Apollo 11 countdown, while in the musical ether you can decipher reverential nods to Joe Meek’s Telstar, whiffs of 50’s Sci-Fi, and to infinity and beyond with everyone’s favourite lantern jawed astronaut Buzz Lightyear. Yes, there is life on Mars.
The song blasts off with a shredded riff, spiralling to earth like a meteor, before the relative calm of a neatly punctuated verse, all clipped rim shots and stabs of jagged mercury guitar. Our earth bound protagonist marvels at his heart’s desire free spirit, casually “floating off in space, no sense of time or place, defying gravity’s pull”, while he’s stuck on the ground “watching the world go round”. If only he could find a little bit of courage the cosmos would be his.
From there we are propelled into a chorus of stacked heavenly harmonies, with a tumbling tangle of star spangled guitars illuminating the dark side of the moon. Our reluctant traveller can’t but dream of a rendezvous with his fifth dimensional Barbarella where astrology and space age technology take a backseat as anatomy alone pushes all the right buttons on the deck of the Starship Enterprise.
‘Star Ride’ is a song that navigates the lovelorn tensions between Mars and Venus. Will these two worlds ever collide, defy gravity or plummet back down to earth with a dull thud? It’s about taking a chance, following your heart, and reaching for the stars. You might not quite have them within your grasp but you won’t get a handful of dust either.
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