SeaStars 2007 The Album is a collaborative effort by a Singaporean duo with a certain proficiency in Apple’s Garageband software. A librarian and a teacher takes some time off their books and goes on an aural ride into the deep blue.

For a homebrew album, I have to say that they’ve got the main melodies down pat. They’ve got the mood all rolling. I sense no awkwardness in their instrumental execution and the sound mix was pretty decent. It was a satisfying, transporting experience that got me a little mellow at night, really.

However (here come the buts), as much as the guitar licks were smooth and creamy enough for one to slip into the flow, the melodies sometimes border on the muzak side of town. A little dated, a little like one of the library tracks that I sometimes come across, labeled as “Easy Listening”.

From someone who concluded sometime back that some of the best electronica (downtempo, chill out… whatever you call it) came from the late 90s, a someone who is a huge fan of Afterlife, Bent and a couple others who know how to work the muzak out of their compositions… Perhaps, just perhaps, The SeaStars should consider roping in an experimental sound engineer who might add in more surprises to their tunes.

I have to stress on the importance of sound design and engineering for such music that aims to transport the listener out of their seats and away from their consciousness. The waves in the album could have done much better with some nifty layering, maybe some hide and seek in between the different instruments. I love the whale songs from Into The Deep, but they sometimes overwhelm, instead of embracing the listener in its floatiness.

Would love to see them strip away some of the more distracting elements in tracks like Seashore Days so that the listener could focus better on the musical journey, instead of having them competing for attention all at once. (Note: I hope I don’t sound too critical with the details?)

Hanging on this note, I’d have to say that I like Stargazer quite a fair bit, as well as the later tracks like Once Upon A Star where the layering was a little more silky, and I could sense the effects being a little more intricate. One of the tracks (I forgot which one) had synthesized choir voices, which is kind of a downer, so I *ehem* have bravely volunteered my own voice for their next collaboration!

Ending off, I would like to congratulate and encourage The SeaStars duo all at once! To quote Cowboy shamelessly, I do say they are “Singapore’s first real New-Age effort” indeed, but with a little more mileage than just spa or yoga music. With a little more experience and experiments, they should be able to see themselves in the realm of the chill out genre as well.

Check this album out!