Bay Area singer, songwriter, and pianist/multi-instrumentalist Anthony Ferraro started
Astronauts, etc. as a home-recorded solo project while in and out of college, introducing his dreamy, soul-inflected indie pop on 2012's Supermelodic Pulp EP. After his full-length debut, 2015's Mind Out Wandering, channeled a more refined '70s soul influence recorded in a studio with his touring band, he returns to a more impromptu-feeling, bleary-eyed vibe on his second LP, 2018's Living in Symbol. The album was co-produced by Chaz Bear, whose early
Toro y Moi records are kindred spirits with the project's sound. It also happens that Ferraro has toured as keyboardist for
Toro y Moi, a collaborative friendship that began around the time of his debut EP. There's still a dose of soul on Living in Symbol, though its opening notes set a tone of unpredictability with its combination of piano, processed vocals, glitchy video game timbres, and mechanical alarm tones. "Symbol Land" goes on to settle into a melodic pop tune with steady drums, though it fades out on an unintelligible spoken word recording, as if a TV is on in the background. Wistful extended chords and discontented lyrics do have a reliable presence on the album, as do lush arrangements that sometimes expand to include instruments like organ, strings, vibraphone, and flute, or facsimiles thereof. The languid "Fly Over Me" adds heavy distortion on a guitar solo that unexpectedly emerges from a slow groove, smooth keys, and delay effects. Elsewhere, "9 Fingers" layers echoing backing vocals, multiple keyboard lines, and sustained guitar chords over the rhythm section for a sound that swirls from headphones through the roof of a central station. All of these textures feed a dreamy, off-balance landscape that seems to be part reality and part imagination, an impression reinforced by lyrics like "I was out all weekend/Trying to be myself/I was nothing like it." It makes for a compelling weekend-afternoon album that feels more like a re-debut than a follow-up. ~ Marcy Donelson