Antony Szmierek

Poet, literature and yoga enthusiast, as well as a schoolteacher in Manchester, thirty-two-year-old Antony Szmierek was truly shocked by the radio success of his track “A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Fallacy” – from the 2023 Poems To Dance To EP, and later featured on his new full-length album. However, the shock didn’t last long; after all, the incredible is par for the course for a follower of Douglas Adams (whose The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is an endless source of quotes for the Mancunian). So, Szmierek quickly got to work on this imaginative and improbable Service Station at the End of the Universe.

The spoken word, balancing between literature and hip-hop, of Kae Tempest finds a strong Manchester accent in Szmierek’s tracks, with quirky lyrics blending daily life and hyperspace, but above all, refined dance beats – house and French touch are the preferred territories of the big guy.

The title track parks the space courier's poetry near cosmic pillars of Hercules, where Moroder-like synthesizers and reluctant beats are danced to, while the potential hit “Big Light” draws from electric pianos and backing vocals straight from the best Chicago house repertoire. It’s impossible not to think of Daft Punk in the vocoder samples and funky sparks of “The Great Pyramid of Stockport.” But it’s inevitable, considering they are colleagues, both in music and space travel.

“Yoga Teacher” instead leans heavily on a creamy bass immersed in synthetic softness that could easily be DJ Koze if he were a bit less dazed by drugs. Once again, it’s the bass – even more pronounced – that dominates in “Crumb,” which, surprise surprise, transforms into a soulful pop chorus, both romantic and quirky – “I wanna be a crumb in your bed/Just let me be there when you are resting your head,” the cheerful fellow sings here.

Between progressive ambitions (“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Fallacy”), late-night skits (“Restless Leg Syndrome”), and guitar flashes (“Crashing Up”), the album doesn’t miss a beat and keeps the listener wide-eyed at every turn. Keep believing, Antony, and if you can, don’t leave teaching – there aren’t many teachers like you around.

13/03/2025