Album Review: Jerry Arlen – Luna 1

If you’re know of The Race for Space by Public Service Broadcasting, Jerry Arlen’s Luna 1 will be an equally enjoyable and rewarding listening experience.

There’s little overlap between the two albums, however, in terms of sound. While there are occasional spoken-words samples from missions to space, Arlen brings an alternative rock palette to the album, jazz and on songs like Say It Anyway. ComeBackRound has more of the blues about it, especially on the piano and vocals, as Arlen his heart and soul into the track, a regular feature of the album.

Challenging has a strong emotional impact, from the voice of John F. Kennedy to samples from the disastrous launch of the Challenger shuttle, it shows us that aiming for the stars can have unexpected consequences. You don’t need to be old enough to remember either incident for the electronic and emotional resonances of the song to affect you – you just need to have empathy.

There is also an overt electronic presence on Now That You’re Gone, the song acting as the as a sequel of sorts to Challenging. The lyrics do feel personal, but also work within the sphere of dealing with a major loss, a warning about following in other’s footsteps. The martial trip-hop of Back Sun contains a moody admonition, as Arlen hits that blues vocal line perfectly, the song expressing a southern gothic identity throughout. A shift in tone occurs on The Long Drift Thru Space, a kosmische groove to the synths reaching upwards, jazz and math rock motifs combining with a progressive/psychedelic sound that has nods towards Pink Floyd.   

The Pink Floyd influence can be heard on Quite Like Me and Keyform in varying degrees, but gospel and blues grounding the song in on another plane too, somewhere beyond the stars. It’s a mark of his talent that Arlen traces common lines between the genre, so that their combination has such a natural flow.

Arlen did a lot of research for the album, studying physics and astronomy; devouring Richard Feynman’s audio lectures, all in the pursuit of gaining the knowledge he felt he needed to prepare him for the huge scale of the album.

And that really comes through; he doesn’t overuse the historical samples, allowing them to really give the songs emotional depth, and Arlen uses his vocal dexterity and range to provide colour and added meaning to each song. The album came together when he was completing his Masters at Berklee College of Music, and to do so was an achievement in itself. The fact that is so emotionally involving is the icing on the cake.

The Collector’s Edition of Luna 1 was released on Bandcamp on the 17th of February, and the album can be heard on Spotify. Arlen has written extensively about the album on his website, and you can get to know the artist better on Facebook.