A few days ago, I received this mini-album in my email, and I was impressed and delighted, let me explain to you; On March 1, ORBIT SERVICE self-released their new ‘I’m Not Supposed To Be Here’ EP. The band consists of two members from the Legendary Pink Dots, Randall Frazier on synths, samples, vocals, and Erik Drost on the guitars, reverb sparks, and synths.
I feel I must give you a few notes about how it all started with them, read a bit about what Randall Frazier wrote to me (because it is useful information),
ORBIT SERVICE is a project I created many years ago, beginning in the late 90s in Denver, Colorado. I started touring with the Pink Dots in 2013 and have been on tour as opener since then on every North American tour, and also in Europe in 2013. over that time, the guitarist for the Pink Dots, Erik Drost, began working with me and now the project is primarily comprised of Erik and myself. I joined the Pink Dots in 2022 and we also opened the Pink Dots tour in North America that year, and we released the album “Dreamless” which we wrote and produced together during the COVID shutdown (Erik is based in the Netherlands, and I am currently in Denver, Colorado, so we did this via sharing of files over google drive and lots of discussions on Whatsapp)…we are currently in production for another full-length release, yet to be titled, but should be available on vinyl in 2025. The Pink Dots are working on a new release, also slated for 2025, to be followed with European and North American tours. It is likely that Orbit Service will again open the shows, at least in North America.
Watch them performing live at The Star Theater (Portland):
So this is how their story goes, and now let me tell you what I heard in the new EP, ‘I’m Not Supposed To Be Here’. It is a complex music show that lasts about 20 minutes, I am not saying it is a live gig recording or a jam in the studio but these 4 new tracks together sound very lively and very adventurous as well, as the 2 musicians know each other well and have developed their musical code which is based on the addition and subtraction of the events that each one brings into each track.
Add doses of psychedelia, and electronic atmospheres droning in and above the whole orbit, then put in some lyrics like poems or thoughts, and you have one amazing little record. Do not expect to hear anything abstract or esoteric but expect something very descriptive and earthy like the album’s cover (cover photography: Erik Drost) and very musical and melodic. The whole record is an adventure, a very cool story to listen to in a quiet environment. I suggest some wine and press play, here we go!!!
P.S. Visit the Bandcamp merch of the band, some drawings go with the disc.
Keep up with ORBIT SERVICE:
Written by Loud Cities’ Mike
