Although the Manchester-based musician can usually be found singing about UFOs, astronauts and interstellar musings, he’s decided to focus on more earthly matters for his first solo album: the ocean. 

 

“Wherever I’ve lived,” he reflects, “I think I’ve always been thinking, I’m just passing through here. Now I have settled just 30 metres from the sea, I know this is home.

 

“Every part of the ocean is different every day,” he adds. “There’s a strange magnetism about it. There’s nothing crowding your thoughts. It provides opportunity for you to look into the horizon, a huge expanse of space for you to develop your ideas...”

 

The three-part work contains echos of Yes, Pink Floyd and Genesis. In addition to the 20-minute title-track, the album also includes Jacques Cousteau, inspired by the legendary French filmmaker, researcher and marine explorer; and Seagull, a paean to the freedoms of his frequent airborne escorts.

 

“All the chord progressions came from an acoustic guitar, then I fleshed them out on electrics," says Balamir. "There are a lot of keyboards in there, too... a departure for me. I think it’s more mood music than Amplifier – that demands that you pay attention to it as an observer. Swell is more like the ocean in that you are a passenger...”