Öresund Space Collective - 2026 - Progably You're Wrong

(71:10; Öresund Space Collective)

There is no doubt that 2026 is already lining up to be an incredibly busy year for Dr. Space who has already released a few albums outside of ØSC, and here in May that band have already released ‘Espaço 3’, with a split LP with Psychedelic Source Records also due out any time, along with this album as well, which is out at the end of the month. It is being released on double vinyl and double CD, with the second CD full of material not available on the records, and the CD version has a running time of just under 150 minutes. Given “Cakefakebake” is a short synth-based piece of less than five minutes one can see just how long the rest of them are given the double CD contains just six numbers.

Recorded over a six-day period in 2022, it was mixed in March 2024 and apart from a few overdubs on the title cut it was recorded totally live. This is a rather more expanded line-up than the version which recorded ‘Espaço 3’, with no banjo this time, and a few musicians only featuring on one or two tracks (including guitarist Martin Weaver who can often be found working with Dr. Space on other projects). Dr. Space views the title track, which is slightly more than 36 minutes in length, as one of the highlights of the band’s career and given the way it moves in multiple different directions at the same time one can certainly understand why. This features Dr. Space (Hammond, Mellotron, synths), Jonathan Degel (guitar), Hasse Horrigmoe (bass), Mogens Deenfort (Hammond, synths), and Mattias Olsson (drums, percussion). The complexity of the different interweaving melodic lines is incredibly compelling, but what I find fascinating is that there is a time within the first quarter of this number where they find themselves moving almost into a dead end, something which can happen when music is being composed live. Just when it feels it is over, Dr. Space adds in some synths which totally changes the mood and style and suddenly everyone feels energised and they move along the new tangent. Given the way Hasse repeats the complex bassline, totally synced with Mattias, it is difficult at times to remember that none of this was rehearsed or scored beforehand, just musicians going where the music demands they follow.

This is improvised space rock which I still find as exciting, enthralling and interesting as when I came across their debut album more than 20 years ago. The final song on this set is “Twissedd” which contains elements I would normally associate with Gong or Steve Hillage and is an absolute delight. This had the same line-up as previously noted apart from no drums, which allows the twin keyboard players to wrap their sound around the bass with Jonathan often driving the lead melody. It is lighter but deeper and certainly feels as if it should be listed to when laid back at the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve staring into the depths of the Milky Way and wondering exactly what is in there and if there are others trying to see us at the same time.

It is a real pleasure to have multiple releases available from ØSC at the same time, and these two albums are very different indeed from each other, but both totally enjoyable.   

Kev Rowland, July 2026

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