The Invisible Line Album Review

It is a very cool hand played by electronic old hands Trip to the Moon on their fifth album The Invisible Line. The duo has produced an instrumental galaxy across the twelve tracks featured. The Invisible Line is an experimental supernova, with moments that burst into a jazz-electronic heaven. 

‘Still Very Cool’ greets you with a very seductive bass line that is overlaid with gorgeous jazz tones. It is fine way of saying ‘hello and welcome on board the cosmic express.’ It moves into the trudging rhythms of ‘System Shaker’ and the driving electronic sound of ‘Blues was Everywhere.’ The latter eventuates into the untamed piano chords, a distinctive experimental jazz number. 

‘The Landscape Listens’ takes the foot of the accelerator and slows the pace down. It features a crazy guitar digression, leading you astray in the middle of the track. ‘Slant of Light’ flickers across the room with an incandescent sparkle while ‘I Give My All’ embraces an exquisitely exotic guitar melody. 

A highlight on the album is the title track which is exploratory with each layer of sound, embodying the liberty and non conformity of the jazz and electronic genres. The final track ‘The Gatekeeper’ awakens the album for one final burst of electronic ecstasy. It is a very grooving track with a very absorbing bass line. Trip to the Moon are extremely strong in their instrumentation, with not one element of any of the tracks faltering. The instruments support each other; where they let the brass, or the piano or the guitars get rowdy, it is bound together through a commanding bass beat.

What makes The Invisible Line impressive is that it goes in every direction it wants to go in, whenever it wants to go a full sovereignty of sound. As an audience, you are at the mercy of the music. It is entrancing so you have no choice but to trust it and follow it on its whirlwind journey. The album is stereo silk. The tracks just ease out one after the other. You can just relax and let the beats, the rhythms, the melodies and vibes just take you away on a hypnotic space odyssey.

-Janise.