Chrome Canyon is the alias of Brooklyn composer Morgan Whirledge, one who has worked on everything from scoring the animated series Infinity Train to playing with Apes & Androids. He debuted the alias Chrome Canyon ten years ago, when he made his debut on Stones Throw with the full-length album, Elemental Themes. Now, after a decade of working on other projects, he returns to Chrome Canyon to drop another album, Director.

A quick glance at the title and a few seconds into listening to this album, you might be able to surmise that Chrome Canyon is taking cues from the classic sci-fi and horror soundtracks of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s composed by Wendy Carlos, Vangelis, and John Carpenter, just to name a few. Chrome Canyon recorded the album between downtown Los Angeles and the Californian desert, which if you’ve ever spent time in either spot, you know that it’s been the inspiration for a lot of sci fi for a reason. To create the sounds of the album, Chrome Canyon went to some vintage instrumentation, employing a Crumar Orchestrator, Korg Polysix, Juno 60, Korg PE 1000, and the Fender (Arp) Chroma Polaris. Now, if you’re not a gearhead, these are some old synthesizers and electronic instruments that create that perfect mix of eerie and wondrous sounds, crunchy drumbeats, and all sorts of happy accidents that come from fiddling with the technology. If that wasn’t enough, Chrome Canyon then took the finished album and passed it through a VHS recorder, just to give it that extra warble to the sound. The finished product will definitely take you back forty years, but it will also transport you to an alien world in the future. The compositions are slow to unfold, and they do require a little patience, but they are also beautiful and built with purpose. It’s definitely an album to listen to on your headphones late at night, when you can really let go and let your mind wander as these compositions take you away.

Director is an odd album, to be sure, but a very good one as well. It’s a very specific style meant for a specific audience, but if that style of early electronic music is your jam, Chrome Canyon has done the work to make a new album that fits nicely alongside all of the old ones already on your record shelf.