Ed Wynne is best known as the founder and only consistent member of Ozric Tentacles. An emblematic group within the nineties hippy revival scene who have continued to endure, the Ozrics fuse instrumental prog rock with psychedelic dance music. I discovered them in the early 2000s at a time when I was starting to seek out a more diverse listening experience encompassing more than just the seventies hard rock I had, by then, already grown somewhat tired of, and they served as a bridge into the multifaceted world of electronic music.

Following many Ozrics albums, numerous other projects and a 2019 solo record, Wynne has now teamed up with Gre Vanderloo (of Gracerooms) for Tumbling Through the Floativerse (Kscope). Conceived in 2020, Tumbling Through the Floativerse is the result of Wynne and Vanderloo’s musical experimentation in Fife’s Blue Bubble Studio which, according to Wynne, “developed and unfolded into a harmonic realm we referred to as ‘The Floativerse’… A place where you might escape gravity for a moment”.

It will be of no great surprise to those who know Wynne’s work that …Floativerse contains all of his usual musical fingerprints (many of which had also been adopted by Vanderloo with Gracerooms). The rich and lush sound is underpinned by myriad layers of synths: shimmering and swirling pads, rhythmic arpeggiators, intricately intertwining melody lines and psychedelic effects.

 

There are plenty of Wynne’s guitar lines too, but they are perhaps less prominent and more disguised by outlandish effects than on most Ozrics releases. The drums, which were largely played “live” on an electronic kit, are the most obviously rock-influenced element here, although at times the driving rhythms are almost as indebted to dance music as the pulsating electronica that spirals around them. Some of the standout moments are the climactic occasions when Wynne fully lets rip with Steve Vai-style acrobatic prog rock lead guitar solos over the top of intense electronic backdrops.

A record with all of these ingredients (and that title!) could easily have become something silly and frivolous but, actually, even at its most playful moments — such as the bouncy broken-robot dub of ‘Floating Plates’ — the music feels deep and serious. There are times when …Floativerse feels like a more technical version of Hawkwind, others when it shifts into ambient dub territory, and yet more when the propulsive and hypnotic textures verge on psytrance.

There aren’t really any hooks or anthemic melodies; instead the tracks are complex multi-layered sound tapestries, their energy ebbing and flowing as tension builds and releases. An otherworldly quality pervades the album and it drags us out of reality and invites us to get lost in its celestial intricacy. It is is also an emotionally powerful experience; in spite of its electronic complexity and cosmic evocations it oozes human feeling.

Tumbling Through the Floativerse doesn’t venture into any unexpected territory for fans of Wynne or Vanderloo, and it mostly adheres to a sonic rulebook that was set in place sometime in the late eighties. That said, other than the other projects of the individuals involved, there aren’t many direct comparisons — not many artists attempt this sort of rock-electronica crossover and even fewer manage to pull it off without stumbling into ridiculousness.

Though it won’t surprise existing fans of its creators, Tumbling Through the Floativerse is an expertly produced, sonically abundant, immersive and often euphoric excursion out of this universe and into the hallucinatory and kaleidoscopic realm of Wynne and Vanderloo’s “Floativerse”. And if you’re into that sort thing this will be exactly what you need.

Buy the album here: https://edwynne.lnk.to/Floativerse

7 / 10

DUNCAN EVANS