audiobooks - Astro Tough (LP)

audiobooks make music that feels like flipping through a late night diary you probably should not be reading, and Astro Tough leans into that thrill from the jump. The London duo of producer and multi-instrumentalist David Wrench and vocalist-lyricist Evangeline Ling has a knack for framing everyday strangeness with club-minded pulse and nervy spoken delivery. Their debut, Now! (in a minute), set the stage in 2018. This one, released on Heavenly Recordings in October 2021, sharpens the edges and turns up the color saturation. It is both leaner and more mischievous, with Wrench’s studio chops shining while Ling narrates, teases, and grins through the chaos.

Wrench’s pedigree matters here. He is the rare behind-the-scenes wizard who can make a track hit hard on headphones and still feel like it will rattle a tiny basement PA. His résumé, which includes work with Caribou and FKA twigs, explains the album’s crisp low end and the way synths flare without crowding the vocal. Astro Tough moves like a late set in a small club, all wiry bass and stuttering percussion, yet it never reads as a genre exercise. The production is exact but not sterile, a place where a drum machine can smirk and a cheap synth can feel like a character.

Ling is the spark. Her voice can tilt from deadpan to delighted in a breath, and she writes like a sharp friend who notices everything. On The English Manipulator she unspools a story that dances between flirtation and warning while the track locks into a motorik stride. It is catchy and uneasy at once, a quality that defines the record. The Doll is even trickier, a tale told with a wink and a shiver over rubbery bass and bright, needling keys. The hooks sneak up on you because they are embedded in the phrasing, not just the chorus. You end up humming her turns of phrase on your walk home.

There is a lot of physicality in these songs. You can almost feel the scuff on the dance floor, the way a kick drum moves the air in the room. Wrench keeps the arrangements tight. He will drop everything to a tick and a single synth line, then slam back with a bass figure that makes your shoulders bounce. Ling uses that space like a stage. She shifts her cadence, tosses in a half-laughed aside, then hits a melody clean enough to cut through anything. The interplay gives the album its tension. You are always waiting to see which one feints next.

If the debut sometimes felt like a collage, Astro Tough has a clearer arc. The duo still loves left turns, but the sequencing has a real flow. The brisk tracks up front build momentum, then the mid-section lets air in without losing the pulse. By the end, they have earned the small risks, the stray sample, the line that lands with a sting. You can tell they spent time getting the sonics right. Nothing drags. Even the most experimental moments feel purposeful.

I kept thinking about how this will play beside the register in a good shop, the kind where staff will put on something odd just to see who bites. It is a great record to stumble upon while flipping through the audiobooks vinyl section. The cover catches your eye, you ask what it sounds like, and someone behind the counter says, think dance music for people who read short stories. That is the pitch. Then you hear the snap of the drums and Ling’s first line, and you are sold. Astro Tough on vinyl feels right too, because the low end has weight and the stereo field blooms. If you collect audiobooks albums on vinyl, this sits next to the debut like a suddenly confident sequel.

For crate diggers and online hunters, Astro Tough vinyl is not just a collector’s box tick. It is the version that lets the production breathe. If you buy audiobooks records online, look for the Heavenly pressing, which does justice to the mix. I have even seen it pop up in a Melbourne record store bin, one of those small blessings for anyone browsing vinyl records Australia style, where finding a UK indie gem can feel like a minor miracle.

Astro Tough wins because it trusts its own world. It is funny without being cute, dark without being dour, and danceable without chasing a scene. Wrench and Ling sound like they know exactly what they are after, and they get there with style to spare. Put it on for the story, stay for the bass, and maybe keep it spinning while your friends argue about which track goes the hardest. My money is on The English Manipulator, but the album makes a case for itself start to finish.