Musical group Late Aster released their Live EP on Sept. 29 titled “Light Rail Session,” a four-track project with a runtime of just over 22 minutes.
The band is extremely underground, with an average of 50 monthly listeners and less than 1,000 plays for each song on Spotify. While the number of monthly listeners and the size of the project are relatively small, the soundscape within this EP is anything but and often comes off as something much grander than simply the blend of instruments the group uses.
The project begins with the track, “It Never Entered My Mind,” in which an immediate electric pulsating sound slowly envelops the audience into a hypnotic state. While it may feel distant to some, the track’s opening has a lullaby essence that entrances the listeners with a strange form of comfort until a trumpet and drums emerge from the soundscape.
These instruments then become our guide through the haze of irregular sounds, navigating listeners throughout the rest of the song at the forefront of everything else.
Finally, nearly halfway through the song, duo Aaron Messing and Anni Hochhalter harmonize their incredible vocals, however, had their lyrics been more audible this could have been a stronger element in the song. It felt like their voices are somewhat far back in the mixing of every track on the record, giving them an almost instrument-like quality, rather than being another guiding force for the listener.
The two tracks in the middle of the project, “Safety Second” and “Play it As it Lays” lead with their digital influence much more than the first track. This operated as a classical jazz song heightened by bebop elements, whereas the following two songs feel entirely the opposite.
While still strong overall, the heavier implementation of computerized sonic elements rather than authentic brass feels like Late Aster putting their weaker foot forward in a sense.
The final track, however, was completely fulfilling and all-encompassing for the collection of sounds the artists were trying to mingle. “Ripple” acts as a perfect cultivation of the live brass elements and vocals leading the track, while the alternative and bebop instruments fill in the gaps to create a diverse soundscape.
While the EP is far from perfect, hopefully, the track “Ripple” will act as a prominent example of their music-making process in the future as the song intelligently executes the unique blend of instruments the project was going for.