Excerpt: “What elevates City Of Satellites’ dream pop above others’ takes on the style is the urgency driving the nine songs on Machine Is My Animal, the group’s follow-up to its debut EP The Spook… Though the group includes only two members, Adelaide resident Jarrod Manuel (vocals, guitars, synthesizers) and Sydney-based Thomas Diakomichalis (drums, synthesizers, programming), Machine Is My Animal nevertheless comes off sounding like songs played by a live band… Listening to the album, it quickly becomes clear that shoegaze is an obvious wellspring for the group, but one also hears traces of both ’80s synth-pop (OMD, for example) and New Wave in City Of Satellites’ pristine, analogue sound.”

Textura

Excerpt: “On first listen, the 9 tracks play like one long trip through a colorful cosmic cloud with a dreamy, mysterious flow and a lush underbelly of celestial sounds. But over time, the songs distinguish themselves with swirling layers of enveloping orchestral harmonies and shooting stars of guitar bursts and cymbal crashes that add brilliant flairs of vaporous and heavenly ambience.”

Adequacy

Excerpt: “City of Satellites creates pleasant, nostalgic and shoe-gaze derived pop that is like a mid-afternoon reverie… the album is a grower and sneaks up quietly on the listener, channelling the 1980s in a manner reminiscent of M83’s most recent work. Unlike M83, City of Satellites adopts an aesthetic that is more 4AD and less John Hughes, as evidenced by the album’s cover.”

The Band Next Door

Excerpt: “City of Satellites have crafted an album filled with dense space and fueled by vintage synthesizers and melodically rich vocals…. the production values on the record rival that of heavyweights M83 and Aphex Twin.”

Drum Media