``I wanted to make a futuristic pop record, to reach out to the kids of the future. It is what I imagine their more highly-evolved pop might sound like: shiny soul music with robots and humans singing together. We are sending a pop music message through time.`` So says The Apples in stereo / Elephant 6 collective mastermind Robert Schneider. the new material recasts the Apples` signature pop sounds in chrome-plated futurism, all while adding a dance-driven vibe channeling ELO, Barry Gibb, Wild Honey-era Beach Boys and Off The Wall-era Michael Jackson. "4 stars. In the three years since the release of New Magnetic Wonder, something strange happened to the Apples in Stereo`s Robert Schneider as he was writing songs and plotting for the group�s seventh album, Travellers in Space and Time. Maybe he accidentally caught Xanadu late at night on cable, maybe someone slipped an ELO song onto a mixtape, or maybe he caught a disco oldie while flipping across the radio dial, but no matter where it came from, suddenly the Apples� main goal in life is re-creating the sound, feel, and magic of ELO and Olivia Newton-John`s �Xanadu.� Schneider and the group (which includes Elephant 6 mainstay Bill Doss and a bunch of guys who can do just about anything, including contribute some fine songs to the track list) layer vocoders, disco strings, wacky synths, and pulsing dancefloor beats into their trademark bubblegum indie and come up with an album that will surprise a lot of people. It�s still recognizably an AIS record, there�s no mistaking Schneider`s wispy vocals, and there are quite a few songs that chug merrily along like vintage Apples. The preponderance of hooks, too, is trademarked. Still, the new trappings make Travellers sound like the work of a band with a renewed energy, and the joy they put into making it comes out of the speakers like a wave of love and happiness. The only problem people might have with this sea change is if they don�t like ELO." - AMG.
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