Astronautica - Replay Last Night

Pushing up and outwards from her self-titled EP released last year, young Edrina Martinez is the proud owner of her first full length album released this week under the covering fire of LA label Alpha Pup. With a wealth of west coast beat-makers before her there is some evidence of inspiration being drawn from such others as label mate Daedelusand the Brainfeeder entourage. With that said, Martinez has taken some graceful leaps in the right direction with this deeply impressive first album.

From start to finish this set of balanced, blissful and sun-drenched beats revolve around the headspace, calming and seducing any ear it comes into contact with. She tames her and quells her over-excitable percussion with a soft and a tentative women’s touch, never letting anything stray too far from the nest. An evident infinity with musical instruments and modern day production styles alike is layered onto each minute with love and care. Each track picking up the momentum forged by its previous and maintaining a cocktail of complex strung melodies, luscious synth lines and warming vocal pitches. This is not to say that the album is in anyway repetitive or predictable; each track really is neither homogeneous by name nor homogeneous by nature; a unique set of rules has been applied to each of the family of eleven giving them character and life.

Califlorida flies the flag straight out of the gate with a mesmeric combination of rhodes style bells, breath-like vocal drones and cute reverbed guitar riffs. They all flow neatly on a bed of machine gun high-hat rolls which churn and chop second after second. The title track Replay last night plays through a hazy percussion section; the clicks and claps fumbling along-side tightly tuned snare hits that echo off into the night albeit accompanied again by her now distinctive melted guitar melodies. Cruise – the track set for the single release later on in early March is possibly my favorite track of all; uniting all the overwhelming positives of the album into a neat four minutes. Drenched in heat Cruise propels you through a reflection of last night’s events, touching you down and soothing the hangover with a warm feeling of the LA sun on your face, the sand beneath your feet and the sea lapping at your heels.

Replay last night is a well-polished sound from a producer 10 years her senior would undoubtedly be proud of. Martinez’s youthful styles and techniques set a foundation which soon builds to a more and more intricate album with every listen. I know listening weeks from now I will still find stutters and jitters nestled deep in the ensemble performing an important part of the album as a whole. It is calm, cool, collected and provides obedience to class abundant amongst her contemporaries. Astronautica has landed and is here to stay…01. Califlorida
02. Cruise
03. ∞
04. Lowrider
05. DDNTKNW
06. Champagne Constellation
07. Weekends
08. Replay Last Night
09. You&Me
10. Lucid Dreams
11. Something About You

Replay Last Night will be available from February 26, get out and get this. Pre-order your copy from Bleep, Boomkat, Amazon or iTunes.

Words by Untrst