Scattered Pieces of Blue by Starfish64: Album Review

by Gabe Finch August 30, 2022

August 30, 2022

Scattered Pieces of Blue by Starfish64: Album Review

Scattered Pieces of Blue – a concept album with a wonderful blending of experimental synths, beautiful guitars, and monotone voices across its 10 avant-garde tracks.

It is a utopian rendezvous worth reminiscing over and over again because this album quickly becomes an earworm for the dystopian-minded soul fond of Radiohead and David Sylvian genres. Dieter Hoffman, Starfish64’s founder, singer-songwriter, and album visionary, mixes real rock tunes with creative soundscapes.

The album opens with the eerie Blue Piece of Something in the Air then moves on to the more tranquil melodies of a new spring morning in Birdsong. While Pink Floyd’s gentler side can be found in the cracks of the different other tunes, the lyrical genius of Hoffman and Dominik Suhl’s somewhat bluesy yet expressive solo will let you relax and unwind after a long day. In particular, the instrumental section “Sunrise over the Weathered Roofs of Platania” is calming, but the track “Forget Me Not” unexpectedly deviates into harder rock tones, synth waves, and a more daring throw. We leisurely dance to “Happiness” and “Time’s Up Utopia,” a masterpiece with a particularly keyed and 80s delivery, and the comeback of “Blue Piece” begins like poetry filling the astonishing space between the clamor of a hectic life. And when Intersection One’s musical harmonies bring an end to the preceding track, the final two tracks, Number Forty-Five and Space Junk, return you to more ethereal musical territory with a more brazen and merciless rock blend that might easily be a successful radio number.

This album, an art rock effort with a sci-fi bent, was recorded in Germany between December 2020 and January 2022 at one of the band’s own facilities. It is the band’s most successful, thanks to superb songs and subtle genre shifts.