Sound Of Ceres is a collaboration between Karen and Ryan Hover of Candy Claws, Apples In Stereo members Robert Schneider, Ben Phelan, and John Ferguson, and the Drums member Jacob Graham. This collaboration resulted in a concise, well balanced, and refreshing adaptation of many of the Hovers’ previous ideas. Combining Candy Claws’ dream pop elements with the vintage psychedelic motifs utilized by the Apples in Stereo, Nostalgia For Infinity introduces an extraterrestrial element to this supergroup’s sound through spacey synths like those in “Dagger Only Run.” Still, the incorporation of components like the bossa nova-esque beats on “Ember Age” and vinyl-distorted wind instrument samples used throughout the album allow “Nostalgia for Infinity” to maintain its distinct sense of humanity.

Like previous Candy Claws releases, Nostalgia For Infinity is a concept album with literary inspirations. Working in five layers described as “orbits,” the band creates an album-length saga based on a retelling of the song “The Girl From Ipanema,” where “the girl” is replaced with a spinning antiprism, and the unrequited longing with an existential shout into the expanding universe. This idea is then further explored through comparisons between “the girl” and Marcel Proust’s novel In Search Of Lost Time, in which he describes “a world beyond us but within our understanding.” Although the backstory of this album is equal parts intricate and abstract, the music itself relays these ideas in a way that comes off as effortless, despite the complex and multifaceted sound collages created throughout.

At the end of the day, the Hovers’ goal has always been to create pop music that is both enjoyable and artistic. Now, with their debut album, Sound Of Ceres has made something that takes and enormously diverse set of sounds with immaculately matched textures and weights, and employed them with perfect balance for a thought provoking, unique and emotionally evoking listening experience. Stream the whole album below.

Nostalgia For Infinity is out 3/4 on Joyful Noise. Pre-order it here.