The album began with an unexpected meeting, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, between Damian Marhulets and the Danish singer Line Bøgh. The thirteen compositions that emerged from this encounter are marked by an intimate, quietly fantastical, and at times eerie atmosphere. Bøgh’s voice appears almost as a beckoning presence, drawing the listener into an enchanted world, guiding them through shifting scenes and evoking distinct places—making it difficult to resist the pull of this unfolding inner journey.

Musically, the album is shaped not only by Bøgh’s voice but also by the ensemble Nouvelle Philharmonie, featuring Sergey Smirnov (piano), Artiom Shishkov (violin), and Dima Tsypkin (cello). Their precisely placed gestures and subtle coloration contribute to a delicate chamber-pop character. Marhulets brings the various elements together with measured restraint, creating a sound world that remains sensitive and finely balanced, avoiding any temptation toward excess or overload.

The title track offers a particularly personal moment, featuring Marhulets’ wife Marina Baranova on piano. Here, the two musicians meet directly in sound. A piece of the same name appears on Baranova’s album Atlas of Imaginary Places, released that same year. While the thematic material is shared, the arrangements differ, making “Constellation Machine” a bridge that links the two albums. “Marina and I wanted to create two musically independent works that are nonetheless tightly connected on a conceptual and narrative level. Each album can decode, comment on, and illuminate the other. The individual pieces refer to one another, building several narrative bridges. In essence, both albums describe the same fantastic world.”

The Danish artist Christian Gundtoft created the album’s cover image of the constellation machine, along with a series of drawings depicting the constellations themselves. These works were developed in parallel with the lyrics and were directly inspired by them. Together, they expand the imaginative map on which the music is set, render its places even more vivid, and heighten the listener’s curiosity to explore what each contributor has to reveal in their own artistic language.