Manchester's
Antony Szmierek has always had a knack for finding profound meaning in life's mundane waypoints, and his first full-length record transforms these familiar pit stops into a metaphysical journey that would make Douglas Adams proud.
The former teacher turned word-wielding dance architect hasn't just crafted an album – he's created an entire universe where everyday characters cross paths at his imagined Andromeda Southbound services.
The album opens with its title track, a swirling blend that introduces us to an ensemble cast including a hen party, a wandering yoga teacher, and star-crossed lovers who could have stepped out of a Mike Leigh film. These characters weave through the record like threads in a cosmic tapestry, their stories intersecting and diverging with the precision of orbital mechanics.
The production throughout is masterful, echoes of musical heritage scattered throughout, but in a way that never feels derivative. Instead, Szmierek has absorbed these influences and reassembled them into something distinctly his own. '
The Great Pyramid of Stockport' might be the album's creative peak, turning a local landmark into an existential meditation on permanence and legacy. It's preceded by '
Rafters', where "the Patron Saint of Withington" meets "a pound shop Geri Horner" in a love story that somehow manages to be both ridiculous and deeply moving.
The record closes with '
Angie's Wedding', a euphoric finale that brings the whole cast back together in what might be heaven, might be a wedding reception, or might be both. The Orbital-inspired synths and breakbeats create a sense of transcendence that feels earned after the journey we've been on.
