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Electronic group Outer Space is back with their first release since 2012. Phantom Center 12" comes to us from Editions Mego and is the first release to showcase the group as its core duo. Comprised of Andrew Veres and John Elliot (Emeralds), Outer Space mix up a nice batch of danceable electronic music on one side and vast, bleak, space electro on the other.

Starting off in the distance and slowly coming to the fore, "Arrival and Assessment" is built on a thick bass synth line. Playing along side this are complementary mids and bubbly, squeezed out highs. Having built a solid base, they add the drums in and the head nodding begins (good head nodding, not junkie head nodding). The build up into the release of the buzz and reverb at around 4:45 is pretty outstanding and let's one know that there's going to be some spacey depth to come. Outer Space runs with this beat and lets the background accents shift and keep the listener on their toes. As this goes on, the synth grows a gnarley little coat, before shedding it and getting back into business. "Arrival and Assessment" is an eleven minute electro jam that never feels its length.

Side B is quite a different beast. "Crixa/5925" starts off with a high pitched, almost subway train brake sound. Sparse, delayed notes add depth to the distant, stretched drone. Unexpectedly, this begins to thicken and grow together forming a dense, low growl almost like one would expect from the arrival of a Great Old One.  It's evil, low, spacey, and awesome.The subway cars reappear having been spit out from the now visible wormhole. The distortion of space time gives off an illusion of thinning and sparseness before filling back up again with terror and dread. This passes as well, and is replaced with high, bubbly relief. Garbled, alien vocals welcome the weary traveler to safety after the long, dangerous trip.

Phantom Center is a very solid slice of electronic music. Showing the versatility of the duo, each side takes a different path, and plays like a different band. Although sounding different, they're both well done and make for a very fun listen (plus, the cover is fun and the cup reminds me of Killer Klowns from Outer Space). This is my first experience with Outer Space, and I'm definitely looking forward to checking out their back catalog.