Free-Spirit Records returns to its roots with this deep, dark and downright dirty compilation full of raunchy acid basslines and captivating cosmic melodies mastered to take you on a mission to another universe and hold you captive. Each of these banging 'Cosmic Tales' brings its own blazing unique dancefloor vibe and story to tell, for psy trance veteran Strophoria has hand-picked a truly stellar selection of psychedelic symphonies to start the year with a blast.

Kicking off with the explosive 'Controlled Perception', Mexican maestro TRON and Glitch combine forces to become Data Error, creating a driving and edgy beast of a track that somehow harnesses just the right qualities of dark and light. D-ther's 'Shellshock' quickly gets twisted and grungy, but its euphoric synths save it from being stuck in the trenches and take it to the next level, perfectly paving the way for Merlin's Apprentice to come in with an electrifying remix of Journey OM and M-THEORY's 'Five Grams'. This rocking remix of an already epic track from the two Italian psy trance masters is probably the closest thing many of us will get to five grams of psilocybin under lockdown.

Lucid Mantra & Hashashin's 'Goat Trance' is a welcome reminder that this business of dance music shouldn't be taken too seriously. If it's visions of cute baby goats frollicking to fluffy trance you're after then you've definitely come to the wrong place, as these cosmic billy goats are hard, fast and dangerous. M-THEORY & Nukleall get political with the awesome 'Psy Pizzo', before ADVANC3D Feat: Norion blows us right out of the solar system with 'Interstellar Mankind'. From goats to the psychedelic mafia to hyperspace, this VA has everything covered.

Things get seriously psychedelic with El Mahico's 'Brainhacked' as the magical one propels our brains out of our bodies, splattering them all over the ceiling with this absolute odyssey of a track that's guaranteed to take you up a few levels to light speed. Just when you thought things couldn't get any freakier, JourneyOM & Endeavour's 'Synthphonnet' storms in with dancefloor destroyer written all over it, as this immense penultimate chapter will have you reaching for infinity. The final yarn in this gripping saga, Mantra Flow's 'Grimshow' is hard and dark with lashings of acid, concluding these cosmic tales with a ripping anthem for the 2020s.
Congrats to Strophoria for curating a fantastic psychedelic odyssey of intensely powerful and unique Cosmic Tales that are superbly crafted. And full respect to Free-Spirit Records on another ground-breaking compilation that further cements its role as one of the driving forces of the genre.