Aussie progressive rock supergroup Floating Me originate from Sydney grunge band Scary Mother that released a lone album Tai Laeo in 1994. I recently gave the Scary Mother album one listen and heard Faith No More playing hard rock lead by a standup comedian’s Eddie Vedder impression. It hasn’t aged well.

With no recording credits in the 17 years since, three members of Scary Mother form the songwriting nucleus of this new project that abandons the predecessor’s grunge clichés. Lead singer Andrew Gillespie has repurposed his baritone to a more operatic presentation and Antony Brown’s guitars abandon solo blues licks for a more egalitarian approach. If anything, the keyboard and programmed bits may take up more space than guitars in the mix.

The chief reason to check out this self-titled debut album is the heavyweight pedigree of the rhythm section for-hire: bassist Jon Stockman (Karnivool) and drummer Lucius Borich (Cog). Engineered by Karnivool’s producer Forrester Savell, the recording quality is at Australia’s top echelon.

Toby Messiter’s keyboards are a dark, tonal compliment for songs that brood with a tense atmosphere. Lead single “Sugar” grooves hard but for the most part the 11 tracks have a slow burn, deep cut quality that don’t focus much on hooks. “Piano” and “Xtoto” both build three minutes of vocal-led drama before opening the instrumental floodgates with ascending strings, huge guitar riffs, and a front/centre rhythm section lock-in. 4/4 electronic beats pulse over Luc’s drum work in “Narke”, then chugging electric guitars propel forward in the album’s fast-tempo highlight. The most experimental foray is “Bezhumous”‘ spoken word whispers, Eastern-tinged guitar, and a freakout percussive tribal groove ready-made for live jamming.

Penultimate track “The Beautiful Fall” is a mood palette cleanser with a subdued melodic vocal, simple acoustic guitar, and brushed drums juxtaposing the preceding auditory assault. Nine minute closer “Across the Gulf” is the only track with the expected structure of prog-rock – a suite in four (or five?) parts that take the album out on a cinematic note of solemn beauty.