Debut volley of retro-vintage electroid suds from Alberta Balsam, craftily nodding to the Analord, Delia Derbyshire and Ursula K Le Guin via ‘90s electronics.

Under an evocative moniker winking at the classic AFX tune and yer ma’s favourite shampoo, Alberta shapes up her debut batch as a sort of sci-fi narrative, transmuting cues from c.20th sci fi novels and hauntological whims for a classy EP full of curdled melody and Warp-ed harmonic layering. ‘Atuan Tombs’ lifts off under a titular inspiration from Le Guin’s ‘Tales From Earthsea’ series also shimmering thru it’s cascading arps and subaquatic bass propulsion, and ‘Cascade’ could almost be an offcut from the Analord’s seminal 12” series. ‘Metanoia’ weaves her fractured vocals into a strong electro-soul workout with shades of Legowelt about it, and the EP’s title track slips off into a brooding coldwave synthpop reverie showcasing her songwriting suss, with ‘Suspended in the Manifold’ expressing a knack for obsessively disciplined drum machine and sequencer detailing that wouldn’t sound out of place on latter Rephlex releases.