'Tuned In' review: Liftoff will take you away with 'Sunday Morning Airplay'

Liftoff's "Sunday Morning Airplay"

“Sunday Morning Airplay,” Liftoff (Fort Knox)

It’s good of Liftoff to include a suggested listening time in the title of the group’s new “Sunday Morning Airplay.” Playing it at the wrong hour could lead to dire circumstances: For example, those who operate heavy machinery wouldn’t want to hear it at work, and nighttime listening would be an invitation to disaster for those who can’t risk slipping off to another realm of consciousness.

Frontman Steven Albert (guitar/vocals/songwriting) leads the band’s psychedelic style of electronica, forcing his audience into a meditative state from the get-go with the fuzz bass/sitar-flavored instrumental opener, “Autumn.”

Liftoff gently and persistently takes a stranglehold with inescapable otherworldliness. Gossamer backing vocals, dreamy electronic arrangements and beguiling melodies conspire to trap listeners in delicate bondage while fluid rhythms snake through the framework as Albert and additional vocalist Johnna Raskin offer near-subliminal messages of mental liberation and uplift. Who can argue with simple notions like, “Love is strong, get around to it” (from “Off Yer Feet”), “Look at what you’ve got, it doesn’t matter what you’re not” (from “Shine”) or “It’s time to believe” (from “EmilyMaryAliceKatherine”)?

The stealth mesmerization is undermined a bit by Albert’s vocals, which are thin and a poor match for the hypnotic convergence of the other elements, though Raskin’s support helps.

Also, about halfway through the release Liftoff starts to come across as if the group assumes the audience is properly captivated and the band members aren’t motivated to work as hard at it — waves of sound have less impact and the atmosphere is less involving in general. At least late track “Marshmeadows” picks up the pace again, blooming into a synthetic alternate universe that feels like a dream within a dream.

Ultimately, this release will be successful only for those willing to succumb. Those who cling to self-control won’t like it at all.

Rating (five possible): 3-1/2

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