Music Review: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Bring Us Together

By Melissa Bratcher

Danish pop group The Asteroids Galaxy Tour have returned with a spacey (as one might expect with a name like The Asteroids Galaxy Tour), but still danceable, musical collage that breaks new ground for them and still sticks to their signature style. The duo of singer Mette Lindberg and instrumentalist Lars Iversen makes evocative electronic music that is made warmer by Lindberg’s delightful singing voice. She sings like Björk and Billie Holiday and Christina Amphlett were put in a juicer with a little honey. Kind of.

The isolation The Asteroids Galaxy Tour felt after a two-year long tour following the release of their last album Out Of Frequency informs Bring Us Together. From the title track’s bookending by alien voices offering a message of hope, to the final track “X” and its Blade Runner-like feeling, space is the place for The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. “Bring Us Together” is buoyed by Lindberg’s strong vocals, high and clear, and the recurring bluesy piano riff, then the whole thing is wrapped in deep layers of echoey synths. “Navigator” boasts a funky bass line and a madly catchy whistled hook that burrows into your ear canals and won’t leave.

There’s fascinating dissonance to “Get Connected.” It’s simultaneously fizzy and sultry, with a slinky bass grinding away and Lindberg’s sunny vocals over the top, with the added touch of squinchy synths. “Choke It” sounds like being inside a videogame, terribly funky and silly both. Probably the most collage-y song on Bring Us Together, it’s quite experimental with layers and layers of vocals on the chorus. It sounds like several songs spliced into one odd song presumably about pot. Swirly synths and Lindberg’s powerful vocals drive “I Am The Mountain,” which features the wonderful line, “I’ve been chasing unicorns since the day that I was born” which will make somebody a lovely tattoo someday.

Bring Us Together is the kind of album that suits for an introspective evening in or a night out wearing something extremely sparkly. While a two-year promotional tour might not be an optimal experience, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour took that experience and turned it into something innovative and charming.

Bring Us Together was released by Hot Bus/Rough Trade on September 16.

Tour Dates:
10/17: San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club
10/18: Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
10/20: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
10/22: New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
10/23: Washington, DC @ The Howard Theatre
10/24: Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts