DEAN BAKER

Long-awaited, Galahad keyboardist releases a superbly spacey solo debut.

He’s made a key contribution to the music of Galahad over the past 20 years and has worked regularly with Twelfth Night as well as producing goth rock singer Anastasia Coburg. Now Dean Baker has an album under his own name. The catalyst, he says, was the death of his friend Ray Chiles, and the inheritance of a CD collection full of the keyboard oriented music he loved. That might explain the strong touches of Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis and other synth soundscapists on Constellations, but Baker’s own power as a composer and his prog-informed penchant for taking us on meandering musical journeys also shine through. The fizzing, swirling synth sound on Impression No.8 may sound distinctly 70s, but the Oldfield-redolent melodies are irresistible. The beautifully atmospheric intro of Le Chat Qui Peche eventually leads into an addictive syncopated keyboard hook that loops around the beat mesmerisingly, en route to other galaxies. Although the bulk of the 10 tracks are instrumental, Anastasia Coburg’s operatic tones on Clouded Hills are a welcome diversion, while adding to the cinematic feel rather than distracting from it.