On Time Navigators, Cosmo Cocktail delivers a summery, dreamy album that is just as fit for an intergalactic voyage through space as it is a summer drive along a grassy country road underneath big, blue skies. Either way, you’ll want to insert your cassette and press play.
The duality of the mood Cosmo Cocktail creates is intentional. The artist told the electroscape he likes “…to compose space themed music with retro-futuristic settings” – the Cosmo side of the equation – and he likes “…to compose dreamwave, summery songs” – the Cocktail side of the equation. The artist went on to say the Cosmo quality of his music has been influenced by musicians early to the synthwave scene, such as Dynatron, Moskva-Kassiopeya, Stilz, and Starforce, whereas the Cocktail quality of his music has been influenced by MPM soundtracks, College, Timecop1983, Robert Parker, and Miami Nights 1984.
I was immediately intrigued by the title of the album, Time Navigators. I noticed a space theme quality, to be sure, but it was the psychological piece that most interested me, the human experience of instantaneous travel backwards and forwards through time as we navigate our memories of the past and imagination of the future. When asked what the title means, Cosmo Cocktail said it reflects “…a travel back in time, to our teenage years. We are time travelers when we recall those moment through our music. I think most synthwave musicians are real time travelers!”
Time Navigators was composed in the artist’s home studio in Italy, mostly during autumn 2019 after a summer in Sweden and Croatia. The album is a nostalgic soundscape built from warm and steady beats, layer upon layer of synth lines, some faster, some slower, some higher, some lower, all elegantly coming together to create the mood. These features are especially salient on “Downtown Years,” “Lipstick Kiss,” and “Night Breeze.”
Cosmo Cocktail brilliantly brings new melodies to the forefront, often only coming to awareness after the piece is already playing its role in setting the mood. Cosmo Cocktail said he constructs his songs with only hardware synths, sequencers and drum machines, using simple recording software, which he described as a real ‘80s approach. He generally starts with the bass line, which he considers the most important piece and only adds the drum line toward the end in order to enrich the track. He also sometimes collaborates with the chillwave artist, Intermission, who adds guitar pieces, such as on “Downtown Years.”
Time Navigators is not only summery and dreamy but brings an edge as well. The title track, for instance, offers a tight beat, a darkwave bass line, deep and purposeful synth melodies underlying the higher pitched melodies dancing above with the big atmospheric synths drawled out through time. The song feels as if it has distinct pieces, almost like a soundtrack while we watch a story unfold, which may be intentional, as Cosmo Cocktail told the electroscape Time Navigators has a concept album side to it. “Push the Pedal Dangerously” also has a heavier edge, opening with distorted guitar and a deep bass line. The track has a higher tempo and intensity, as well as a hint of cyberpunk in the synth that, remarkably, co-exists with a dreamy lead synth pop line, while industrial elements patter as well.
“September Sunset” brings Time Navigators to a close. It feels a bit like the end of a movie, when the credits start to roll. Your drive down that country road has come to a close, yet offers no closure, leaving you with an empty feeling much like navigating time through our memories can sometimes do. Cosmo Cocktail told the electroscape, “I composed the last song during lockdown, due to the Covid-19 emergency, in April 2020. This is the only song with a totally different mood, when you listen to the album you will immediately recognize it.”
Cosmo Cocktail often releases his music in a physical format, in addition to digital, such as CD, cassette, and vinyl, which fans of the independent retrowave music scene are in eagar search of.
The artist told the electroscape Cosmo Cocktail became a reality in 2014, and he plans to continue making albums in the future, taking a pause between releases and playing live shows.
The artist would like to thank all those who have supported him over the years, including friends, fans, musicians who he has collaborated with and who have become great friends, as well as long time label Werkstatt Recordings.