Astrel K blends sonically adventurous sources (film music, post-rock, indie electronica) with intimate vocals and melodies to craft a sound that's both comforting and challenging at once. The solo project of Ulrika Spacek member Rhys Edwards enjoyed the patronage of Stereolab, whose revived Duophonic Super 45s label issued the project's debut album, Flickering i, in 2022.

Edwards was no stranger to the indie rock scene when he started recording as Astrel K. His career began in the Reading dream pop band Tripwires in the early 2010s. The group recorded a handful of singles and two albums (2013's Spacehopper and 2015's Watermelancholia) before Edwards and fellow bandmate Rhys Williams went on to form Ulrika Spacek. That band was influenced by a wider range of music, from Krautrock to Sonic Youth and Television, and soon formed a partnership with Tough Love Records that began in 2018 with the "Everything All the Time" single. The band released a handful of singles, an EP, and two albums (2016's The Album Paranoia and 2017's Modern English Decoration) for the label. During this time, the group lived and practiced in a communal space in London known as KEN; when they were forced to leave, Edwards picked up stakes and moved to Stockholm.

Not having any musical connections in Sweden, he spent time writing and recording music for his own edification, drawing inspiration from slowcore, library music, and Broadcast. When he got serious about recording, he brought in a few Swedish musicians to help out, including Lili Holényi, Milton Öhrström, Niklas Mellberg, and Tomas Hellberg. The first result to emerge from the sessions was the 2020 single "You Could If You Can" for the reconstituted Duophonic Super 45s label. Run by Laetitia Sadier and Tim Gane of Stereolab, plus their manager Martin Pike, the label released many influential indie and post-rock singles and albums in the 1990s, and Edwards' work slotted in nicely. Following a two-year gap for more recording, the debut Astrel K album, Flickering i, was released in April 2022. Featuring a more song-based approach than his work in Ulrika Spacek, the record contrasts calmly experimental sounds with tightly bound melodies and thoughtful lyrics. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi