God Is An Astronaut
Origins

This time God flies low. 11 years have passed since the takeoff, few variations in 11 years, yes, but always high levels. The debut album was the end of the beginning and the start of the rise towards the stars, a "The End Of The Beginning" full of extremely interesting cues, that post-rock mixed with electronics rich in atmosphere, actually no atmosphere, it went beyond, towards deep space, "From Dust To Beyond", "Coda", "Fall From The Stars" were the tracks that illustrated the signature God Is An Astronaut. Then came the turn of "All Is Violent, All Is Bright," considered by many as the pinnacle of their discography, the less inspired "Far From Refuge," the self-titled "God Is An Astronaut" containing the star I have always considered the brightest in the God Is An Astronaut firmament, namely "Loss," and "Age Of The Fifth Sun," a solid album but nothing new.

Among these various discography chapters, as you might imagine, little has changed, the Irish band has given themselves a set of precise coordinates from which they have not budged, this could represent a flaw or even a quality, it all depends on how you take it, if you really can't stand bands not very inclined to renew themselves from album to album, then best to leave it be. Here, I have always liked them, I never expected great innovations from them, the formula suits me just fine, their atmospheres are what one expects from the monicker and therefore do not disappoint, the innovation I honestly seek elsewhere.

But from "Origins," I would have expected more. Sixth album, same formula (more or less). A lot of electronics, in quantities similar to the debut, but we are far from "The End Of The Beginning." "Origins" is decidedly more linear, lacks the sonic explosions of past albums and even that surreal calm, no supernovas and no absence of gravity, here we seem to have returned to Earth, in a post-apocalyptic Earth as in the video clip shot for "Reverse World," perhaps one of the best of the lot, the astronaut has returned to Earth, has been away from home for a long time, but now his home is destroyed, he is alone and sad, all the wonder he experienced in his journey among the stars now belongs to the past, now there is only room for desolation and melancholy.

"Origins" is not a God Is An Astronaut album, or at least it's not what they have accustomed us to, often cold and a bit apathetic, it leaves behind many of the elements that seem to remind us of how small we really are, it is grounded, perhaps too much so. Ultimately, it's a listen recommended only to the band's admirers, others would miss only a meager sufficiency.

The astronaut has returned to Earth. Is this the end?

P.S. The vocoder wasn't a great idea