William Edge's debut 76 Lightyears begins a trilogy of albums based around a Sci-Fi theme. It's the story of a space mission to the edge of the known universe; during this mission the captain discovers that the pods holding the crew in suspended animation are failing and that his doom is imminent because his own pod will fail within the next 76 lightyears. In addition to music, the story aspect is explicated in some places by a female computer voice giving status information about the mission. Surprisingly this album is all electronic, yet the slightly funky opening track "Doppler Efx" sounds like it has a bass guitar playing along with uptempo but edgy drum programming. Indeed, the album opens and closes (in a short reprise) with this track that has more in common with, say, John Stanford's Deep Space than the more typically serene musical visions of outer space. Most of the other tracks convey a sense of anticipation, and even solemnity, like in the track "Animation Suspended" where watery stick sounds provide brief flurries over organ like synth washes. A mid-tempo percussive rhythm comes in a couple of times and brief piano refrains augment the mood. Though not exactly funereal, many of the tracks have a doleful feel that fits in well with the story. I found "Earth Mirage" in particular to be quite touching, on this piece we again hear organ like washes and watery stick flurries, this time added to by harp like refrains, melancholic drums, and yearning synth lines, plus some other effects such as cosmic winds. Maybe this is a musical farewell to the planetary home never to be set foot on again by the captain. A few basic musical themes are reprised in varying forms throughout the album. The repeating electric piano like refrain in "Captain's Log" is a development of that first heard in "Animation Suspended". This time the piano takes centre stage, accompanied by various electronic effects, those water stick flurries again, and it also includes a lot of the story as told by the computer voice. 76 Lightyears gets the thumbs up from me. Treat it as a soundtrack to a non-existent film or just enjoyable music, either way it's an impressive debut that promises good things from the rest of the trilogy.