myself, but stuff like the harmonic series, she'd spend endless hours helping me get it into my thick head." Composition Forever Alien is dominated by Kember's vintage keyboards, in addition to usage of vocoders and theremins, continuing the style indicated on Songs for Owsley. Ned Raggett of AllMusic described the resulting sound as resembling "a head-on collision between 1957-era sci-fi movies, 1968 psych, and whatever else is floating through Sonic's brain." Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club described the album as "tripped-out hazy music-from-space," and noted the incorporation of layered electronics, looped samples and a "keen gift for subconscious melody." Option magazine note the album's focus on drones, textures and treatments of "a decidedly non-rock perspective". The album was inspired by the 1960s analogue electronic music of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and songs which pay direct homage include "Owsley" and "The Stars Are So Far." Writer Erik Morse wrote that the album "endeavoured to merge the electronic alchemy of Clara Rockmore, Louis and Bebe Barron, Richard Maxfield and Delia Derbyshire, with a traditional pop-song structure." Kember's vocals on opening song "Feels Like I'm Slipping Away" are treated to present an "air of desperation among all the unworldly burbles and noises" according to Raggett, who also noted a contrast via the song's "pretty melody." "The Stars are So Far (How Does It Feel)" is a remake of Spacemen 3's "How Does It Feel?"; the lyrics and delivery remain intact, but the Spectrum version uses synthesizers to create the song's psychedelic, rhythmic backing. Option described the song as resembling "a cross between Laurie Anderson's 'O Superman' and an episode of The Outer Limits. "Delia Derbyshire" is influenced by and named after the BBC Radiophonic Workshop musician of the same name. "Owsley" feature theremin and synthesiser tones ominously 'swirling' around a "demented vocal recitation," contributing to a claustrophobic feel. The title track is spoken word in style. "The New Atlantis" mixes lyrics concerning "sound-houses" from Francis Bacon's novel New Atlantis with a repeating melody and spontaneous "blurbs and burbles." It has been described one of the album's "blips-and-bloops" instrumentals. Release and promotion Forever Alien was released on 4 August 1997 in the United Kingdom by Space Age Recordings and the 3rd Stone imprint. In the United States, it was released by Space Age and Reprise Records. The cover of Forever Alien depicts the VCS 3, as played on the album, and the overall