Some records don’t just sit in the background—they pull you in, stretch time, and shift your surroundings. To The Mesophere And Beyond is one of those albums. It’s two tracks, sixteen minutes apiece, but length isn’t the point. This is music that breathes, expands, and locks you into its orbit.
Misha Panfilov, the Estonian multi-instrumentalist and producer behind the septet, has spent years fine-tuning his sound. He’s dabbled in everything from heavy-hitting funk to hypnotic jazz, but this album leans into something even looser—warm, fluid, and almost weightless. The lineup is stacked, each player adding their own signature touch: Monika Endman on electric bass; Volodja Brodsky on Organ, Synthesizer, and Electric Piano; Kino Toshiki on trumpet and percussion; Sasha Petrov on tenor sax and percussion; Ilja Gussarov on flute and percussion; and Leonid Galaganov rounding out the rhythm section on drums, tabla and percussion. Misha himself plays lap steel guitar, acoustic guitar, and extra percussion, weaving in elements that push the album into unexpected places—at times celestial, at times deeply grounded.
And the way it came together? That’s a story in itself. Two live gigs in Stockholm lit the spark, followed by a no-time-to-overthink-it recording session in Estonia. The band had just a couple of days to capture everything before Galaganov caught a flight back to the United States. By the end of four days, they had an album—alive, spontaneous, and brimming with the kind of chemistry you can’t force. A final mix in Portugal sealed the deal, keeping that raw, immediate energy intact.
The result is an album that doesn’t rush or demand anything from you. It just exists—open, expansive, and deeply listenable. The airy textures and subtly shifting grooves make it perfect for late nights, slow afternoons, or any moment you want to dissolve into sound. It’s jazz, but not in a way that feels tied to tradition. It’s spacey but never drifts too far from the ground. And most of all, it’s an invitation—to slow down, to tune in, and to get lost in something bigger than yourself.
This is Misha Panfilov at his most freewheeling and immersive. And if you let it, To The Mesosphere And Beyond will take you exactly where the title promises.
