ANTONY SZMIEREK - Service Station At The End Of The Universe

A poet, yoga enthusiast and literature lover, as well as a schoolteacher in Manchester, thirty-two-year-old Antony Szmierek experienced the radio success of his "A Hitchhikers Guide To The Fallacy" – taken from the 2023 "Poems To Dance To EP" and then reworked into this new full length – as a genuine shock. The shock, however, didn't last long: the incredible, after all, is bread and butter for a Douglas Adams devotee (whose "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is an inexhaustible source of quotes for the Manchester native), so Szmierek soon got to work on this whimsical, implausible "Service Station At The End Of The Universe".

The spoken word of Kae Tempest, poised between literature and hip-hop, takes on a strong Manchester accent in the tracks of our moustachioed maestro, with oddball lyrics split between the everyday and hyperspace, but above all refined dance backing – house and French touch are the big guy's favourite territories.

The title track parks the poetics of the space courier near some cosmic Pillars of Hercules where Moroder-esque synths and recalcitrant beats go dancing, while the potential hit "Big Light" draws electric pianos and little choruses from the finest Chicago house repertoire. It's impossible not to think of Daft Punk amid the vocoder-laced samples and funk sparks of "The Great Pyramid Of Stockport". But that's inevitable, given they're colleagues, both in music and in space travel.

"Yoga Teacher", on the other hand, rests entirely on a creamy bassline, steeped in synthetic softness that could belong to a Dj Koze a touch less dazed by drugs. It's the bass again, even more prominent this time, that dominates "Crumb", which, surprise surprise, blossoms into a soul-pop chorus as romantic as it is dazed: "I wanna be a crumb in your bed/ Just let me be there when you are resting your head", our affable hero sings here.

Between progressive ambitions ("The Hitchkiker's Guide To The Fallacy"), nocturnal vignettes ("Restless Leg Syndrome") and flashes of guitar ("Crashing Up"), the record never puts a foot wrong and leaves you wide-eyed at every turn. Keep believing, Antony, and if you can, don't quit teaching – schoolmasters like you aren't exactly easy to come by.

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13/03/2025