“‘Astral Drive’ is the musical vehicle for producer, singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Phil Thornalley,” (GetReadyToRock). The “orange” album, Thornalley’s second under the name Astral Drive, “… explore(s) uplifting psychedelic tinged pop, soul, and rock with beguiling piano chord voicings, lilting melodies, subtle vocal harmonies, and songs that frequently evoke their title. It’s an album rooted in the 70’s – think Rundgren, Wings and 10cc – while on the opening brace of tracks he leapfrogs into the late 90’s alt-pop rock world of Weezer and The New Radicals.
… For those familiar with Thornalley’s musical history (The Thompson Twins, Duran Duran, Prefab Sprout, The Psychedelic Furs, XTC, The Cure, Bryan Adams and even Natalie Imbruglia, etc.), this album makes perfect sense, as it pushes his creativity into new areas … He knows the value of a succinct pop song with a catchy hook. As a result, ‘Orange’ is a creative tour de force with enough originality and diversity not to be be locked into a particular time, place or genre. It’s an album that gives full rein to Thornalley’s pop sensibilities. There’s plenty of feel, lyrical substance, deft harmonies and vibrant hooks, all subtly honed by his own production skills which lead him to a layered, but organic sound.”
“Dum Dum,” a track from the 2021 album, starts with a verse in F major. The chorus flips its emphasis over to its relative Ab major (0:30 – 0:57) before returning to the initial key for the second verse. 1:42 brings a guitar-driven instrumental chorus, pushed upwards into A major. At 2:00, we return back to Ab major for another chorus. The tune’s final measures leave us in an unexpected place: moved via a leading tone into a colorless F# chord.
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