Cosmo Cocktail - Aurora

(Werkstatt 2017)

Aurora is another space synth album, but one that takes the sci-fi aesthetic more seriously than most. It may even be named after a Kim Stanley Robinson novel, which would be something! More importantly, the album is good and also quite unique in the scene.



Every song is space themed, actually, with titles like "The Skylab Odyssey" and "Gagarin! Don't Look Back." You might imagine hypnotic ambient soundscapes, like Syntax, but Cosmo Cocktail is more synthwave with a goth and EBM flair. The best song by far is "Unfamiliar Skies," featuring Ideon on vocals. It is the kind of thing that shows a way forward for synthwave, out of its neon beach and inverted cross cliches. The rest of the album is quite solid, featuring big drums, dance floor grooves and a pleasing array of synth sounds. My only complaint is that some of the tracks did not stick in my head as much as some of the others. 

There is also something else--something more intangible--that I want to mention. Aurora feels like it was played live, rather than programmed. I doubt this is wholly true, but maybe it is true in part? It feels a little looser, a little less quantized than most albums I hear. To me this gives Aurora a human touch that is sometimes lacking in electronic music. 

Score: 8.5