Adventure 112 Vinyl Reviews
Sammy Stein. Author of The Wonder of Jazz and Music is Your Superpower, Ipswich and London. UK 2026
“Beautifully unboxable – the music has elements of folk, jazz, pop, and classical.”
Interstellar Duo comprises sisters Charlotte Sterland (piano, voice, and viola) and Heather Sterland (piano, voice, and violin). The pair have made a name for themselves through hard work and performances that have drawn admiration from the audiences and critics alike. They occupy a musical space crafted for themselves through originality and adventurous composition.
They have taken part in concert tours, film soundtracks, live stage and dance productions, and their music has been used by the BBC and Channel 4. The pair continue to develop new creative ideas.
Nature is at the heart of their music. Experiences gathered on travels throughout the UK and beyond are transformed into richly textured sonic landscapes. Unstable moorland underfoot, shifting sunlight across a hillside, gathering storms, rolling surf and the hidden dangers that exist alongside natural beauty all find expression in their compositions. Through carefully crafted harmonies, changing dynamics, and evocative melodic lines, the duo recreates images not just of places, but of the emotional responses those places inspire. The result is music filled with atmosphere, emotion, and movement. It is music that breathes, shifts, and evolves, much like the landscapes that inspired it.
Beautifully unboxable – the music has elements of folk, jazz, pop, and classical. ‘Adventure 112’ is their second album release, and the music also serves as the soundtrack to eight stop-motion short films titled with the same name.
The album is an acoustic release of ten tracks featuring the duo’s observations and musical interpretations of a range of adventures, from a forest chase to a search through an ancient desert, to a moth that flies with a secret truth; this takes the listener to some of nature’s boldest places.
‘Ancient Lake’, with its flowing melodies and beautifully pitched harmonies, includes some beautifully worked string solo. And just check that rhythm pattern on the piano! There is a range of contrasts in this album, from the gentleness of ‘Ashkirk Loch’ or the mesmeric beauty of ‘Cave Song,’ to the dark intensity of the piano on ‘Storm Everest,’ contrasting with the floaty, soaring violin and the harmony of the vocals.
The emotive ‘Dark Forest’ tells of a journey through a secret forest and includes a wonderfully reflective middle section with piano and strings, while on ‘Moth and I’ the music is gentle, contrasting with the beautifully pitched, emotional singing that flows across the top. The flow of the melodies perfectly matches the perceived flight of a moth, while ‘Sun On The Moor’ is a track of harmonics and exploration.
This music brings to life landscapes that the sisters have seen on their travels – and some imagined perfect images of perceived landscapes. This is achieved using sonic tonality and harmony where needed, and introducing surprises, contrasts, and sudden depths that add texture and layers. Like nature, the music evolves and subtly changes; it will never sound the same every time you listen.
The sisters’ creativity extends beyond the music. Attend one of their performances, and you may find yourself playing board games, joining a stargazing session afterwards, or even sitting for a portrait done using the Alla Prima Method, which involves painting and completion of the portrait while the paint is still wet, in one sitting. They have a circus/climbing background that might explain their choice of subjects and how their live shows are staged. Heather told me, “It can involve multiple disciplines sharing the stage. We are generally very keen on sustainability in live performances, and the messages shows, and venues send.”
And with this duo, it might be a mistake to expect anything akin to what you’ve seen before. Expect different. Charlotte comments, “We premiered a green comedy film series in Amsterdam last year, called ‘Meten is Weten’. It features two kangaroos, Sirk and Ular, who work as sustainability consultants for the music festival sector.” Heather adds, “We’re interested in ways that venues can evolve sustainably in line with the steady-state economy and eco-economic decoupling.
“Nature-related programming is a big part of future productions for us,” Charlotte says. Heather adds, “Our comedy shorts mostly feature rare and endangered species, like the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat. We’ve also just released an adventure spoof, ‘The Battle for Snail Island’, featuring nerite snails, and a new comedy short, ‘How To Floss With A Carrot.”
Talking with the Interstellar duo, it is clear there are many more ideas in the pipeline, but it is safer to say, ‘Watch this Space,’ which we at PM, and hopefully readers, will be doing.
Uwe Abel. Co-founder Musicland, Berlin. Germany 2025
With Adventure 112, Interstellar Duo presents a remarkably poetic album that captivates with its keen sense of timbre, atmosphere and structure. The two musicians take their listeners on an acoustic journey that begins quietly, unfolds in a floating manner and ultimately culminates in a delicate calm – an adventure in the best sense of the word.
The duo's music moves between classical, jazz and folk, interspersed with modern, electronically inspired textures.
Every note seems deliberately placed, every pause carries meaning. Interstellar Duo succeeds in creating astonishing
emotional depth with minimal means – their music is transparent, focused and at the same time full of life.
Sonically, the album captivates with its transparent production: no overloaded sound, but plenty of space for silence, resonance and reverberation. This openness leaves room for listeners to make their own associations , a rare gift in an often overproduced music landscape.