Otherworldly

Travel the world—even other universes—with Peptalk’s latest album, Islet. You don’t have to have synesthesia to see the imagery of the places this music will take you. That’s how powerful this album is; it can transport you.

The band is composed of three members: Shayna Dunkelman on percussion, Angelica Negron on vocals and Michael Carter on electronics. Each musician is from a very different city than the other: Los Angeles, San Juan and Tokyo. These different origins definitely influenced the sound of this album, as every song takes you to a different place and different environment—a different world.

The members also play for other bands, Xiu Xiu, Tyondai Braxton and Balún. Drawing on their other work, they create an imaginative, unique, electronic sound. Most of the album is solely dreamy—and sometimes haunting—instrumentals. Negron’s light and gentle vocals do come in here and there, but even then, her voice is like another instrument blended and blurred into the surreal synths that wash over like waterfalls and burry you deep in lush sounds.

The thread that keeps this album one cohesive work is that the sonic places to which the cosmic songs take you seem set in an exotic, galactic world, all created and conjured by a variety of alluring, romantic and outlandish sounds. Peptalk described one of their songs, “Podesta,” as “music that you might expect to hear on an imaginary phantom island situated approximately 1390km west of Chile – a magical little land.” “Panorama” takes you on a trip in a spaceship and lands in summer in East Asia. “Saltie” will wind you down a river of a galactic and groovy version of Middle Earth, while “Driftwood” sounds like an electronic chant of the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.

But take a listen for yourself. Indulge your inner escapist and let Islet lead the way to new and unseen lands and sonic adventures. Who knows where you will go?