Rewind: Astral - Come And Go

One of the greatest lost indie classics of the late 90s. This elegant, soaring guitar track evokes sunsets and birds in flight over the seas, with its expansive atmosphere and weeping guitar hook. It was Astral's debut single, released on Curveball Records at some point in late 1998, and played by Steve Lamacq on legendary Radio 1 indie show The Evening Session. After hearing it, I was pleased to find a copy of it in HMV and it became one of my favourite tracks of the era. I bought the follow up single 'Future Times', which was equally as blissful, butafter a self-titled mini album, the band disappeared. The song was recorded at Riverside Studios, Glasgow and produced by Duncan Cameron, who also worked with Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits and Astrid. 

The band were made up of vocalist John Neary, guitarists James McNeil and Robert McMahon, bassist Mark Falconer and drummer David Adams. Years passed before I heard anything regarding what happened to them, until a few years ago when I posted an article on this same track and was surprised to recieve a comment from David Adams: "I was the drummer and the band split in around 1999. I am still in touch with the singer, John Neary, who is still performing in a band called The Last National Band. We all met up around Christmas time in 2012 and went in the studio to play some of the old tunes. Happy memories. Dave."