Deastro

NOTE: It's hard to sum up an artist with a single, that's why I don't normally write about one or two songs. And especially if it's all instrumental!

Deastro's free EP Grower is available now over at RCRDLBL (I thought about adding a few extra LDLBLD for good measure), while his full album, Moondagger will be available June 23^rd on Ghostly Records.

Randolph Chabot is the brainchild behind Deastro, who compose all the songs and theme. In the case of "Moondagger", it's based on his dream about a prince searching for the fantasy weapon against a King of Darkness. I do get a sense of that extension on Grower, as he travels through "Rouge River", however the EP was inspired by the not-so-fantasy city of Detroit, Michigan.

The title of it Grower represents what I feel is growing inside of peoples hearts and minds there. It is about human growth, so sometimes it can be messy or tragic all though I am not going to limit human experience to two adjectives or claim that I know the first thing about it.

- Randolph Chabot

The EP goes by quickly, all of the songs have layers and layers of sound: from programmed drumbeats to ambiance to strange shifts in music structure. The songs are different enough to distinguish from each other, but without lyrics, I feel it's like it would serve as background music to a movie soundtrack.

While I can't say this is the sort of music that I like, Deastro do have their fans and supporters: Daytrotter calls it "mysterious hybrid of psychedelia, laptop sorcery" and Rolling Stone thinks it's "a hyper-positive mix of dream-pop woosh, nu-electronic beats and enormous hooks".

You can judge for yourself, take a chance on the download. And if you like it, his upcoming US tour starts next week. I suspect Deastro will look and sound much better live than studio laptop.  And based on live photographs, it does look like Chabot also sings.