A riveting rock sound compels on An Endless Voyage on the Astral Sea, another thorough success of an album from Michigan-based artist Tyson Dickert. Following up last year’s fantastic instrumental rock album Beneath the Stars, We Dream of Tomorrow’s Sun, Dickert’s latest release expands further upon his sound — continuing to strut an eclectic tonal range, while also infusing occasional vocals here with seamless immersion. Powerful guitar-driven productions are bolstered by themes capturing a personal intimacy, exploring vulnerability, urgency, and defiance with artful intrigue.
Sweltering guitar distortion opens the album with commanding intensity as “In the Glow of Dying Embers” comes into view. Murmured vocals and rhythmic ruminations meld with twangy guitar spurts thereafter, scaling back the ferocity before re-igniting it again — and showcasing the project’s capacity for riveting structural traversals, with dynamic tonal prowess. “Lost in the Slow Resolve” comes next, captivating in its layered interactions between twanging guitar undercurrents and more expressive wails. Synth-laden incorporations move with bustling bass past the two-minute turn and into a chugging rock distortion, again engaging in its delectably unpredictable switch-ups.
Another standout, “The Sky Fell and Took Us with It” also excels in both soaring guitar-fronted invigoration and understated dreaminess. Vocal elements linger enjoyably throughout as well, playing as a climactic element in its “fragile love,” perspectives as pit-pattering percussion swells into bursting guitar power; distortion undercurrents and a charismatic lead guitar line interact with melodically gripping qualities. A similarly enthralling sound impresses on “In the Days When We Were One,” which maintains a more consistent alt-rock fuzz and approachability — less menacing and more direct with its vocal work, embracing a harmonious delivery with ’90s nostalgia. Shades of Pavement and The Wrens show within the production. “And I don’t feel okay, my mind starts replaying every lie that you said,” vulnerable lyricism exudes into the perseverant “but I’ll be okay,” catharsis.
An enthralling album finale, “Last Dream” casts a dreamy spell with its serene guitar textures — invoking a caressing shoegaze-y charm in the twinkling guitar tones, lush synth pad, and patient percussive unfolding. The elegant acoustic-synth delight “Time is a Window Without Glass” enamors as the album’s most relaxing foray, though “Last Dream” has similarly meditative allure in its progressions from late-night moodiness into the familiarly inviting rock ardor to close it out. Full of memorable songwriting and audible emotion, An Endless Voyage on the Astral Sea is a definitive success from Tyson Dickert.
An Endless Voyage on the Astral Sea releases on June 6th.
