Forgetful Alien’s sophomore record, Our Soul Hungers, steadfastly sets forth on a path of progressive rock and takes every opportunity to get lost in segues of trippy electronica temptations  with utter seriousness and uninhibited enthusiasm. This album speaks the language of prog-rock in the vocabulary that would pique the interest of indie folks.

Although many of the cuts on Our Soul Hungers (like “It Silently Haunts Me” and “Am I?”) have the affectations of Pink Floyd-inspired music, this is a tight album, with no ultra-ambitious tendencies to be experimental. The songs average three and half minutes, and apart from the odd curtailed guitar segue (like the ones on “Ushakaron”), there are no serious music interludes to veer the songs off course and off balance.

But Our Soul Hungers in all its spirits and consciousness is a psychedelic record. Not the least of which is Paul Madden, the heart of this duo (made complete by Ritchie Smith), and the lead vocalist, who has a voice that is creepy yet comforting. His inveterate cooing singing style has the markings of Thom Yorke’s shyness, which is a welcome ingredient to the plenteously Radiohead flavored music on this record, most significantly on tracks like “Our Soul Hungers” and “Sail The Moon.”

The psychedelia on Our Soul Hungers doesn’t stem so much out of its eccentricity as much as it does from its introvertive dreaminess, which makes for some luring and woebegone cuts like “In This Life,” “Exits And Entrances,” and “Count To Three.” The two purely acoustic tracks – “Show Me” and “Bring Me Home” – have the same sense of abstracted whimsy, with their simplicity transformed into something more mysterious.

Even for an album that still needs some work in terms of the professionalism of the sound quality, Our Soul Hungers is a beautifully complex and twisted master work from an amazing band.

Rating: B+

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