Hawkwind
Somnia
(Cherry red)
7.5/10
By Decibel Report



The joss sticks lyrical mysticism, gussied up with ambient swirls and a rich mix of atmospheric colours from this ongoing entity's otherworldly sonic palette, permeates this album dedicated to what we spend a large part of our lives doing: sleep! With an illustrious past illuminated by a heavy dose of fantasy and sci-fi infused musical adventures, this reconstituted assembly of players, centred around stalwart master of the universe octogenarian Dave Brock, leads the listener on an odyssey into the subconscious land of nod.

This varied collection of songs seems to lean back in a woozy haze of patchouli hued reveries of layered synths that sedate and elate the senses. It's a recording where the largely unmapped inner space takes centre stage as things get crepuscular and darkly hilarious as the repeated motif of ‘screaming abdabs and heebie-jeebies’ on opening entry Unsomnia comically illustrates.

Hereafter, Encounters glides along on a well-travelled cosmic theme of surreal soundscapes becalmed by the hazy healing vibes of the spacey Alcyone and the space dub of Counting Sheep. No strangers to the paranoia-inducing composition, China Blues echoes down labyrinthine corridors of misshapen sounds to eventually be evacuated by the calmer musical passages of It’s Only A Dream and Meditation. Clusters of surrealist sounds form the heart and soul of this recording as they strikingly coalesce on the smoky space blues number I Can’t Get You Off My Mind, whose vapour trails reform into a space shanty of noodling noises on Small Objects In Space. Whereas the lacklustre Cave Of Phantom Dreams oddly ends this musical investigation into uncharted territory with more of a whimper than a cataclysmic big bang.

Not exactly up there with the best of their work. Nevertheless, it’s an album where not everything is as it seems and evolves upon repeated listening. Somnia kicks back comfortably within the infinitely mammoth body of work amassed by this shape shifting singularity.