Astral is a shoegaze group based in San Francisco, California, United States.
Astral was formed by singer-guitarist Dave Han and drummer Shawn in 1999; bassist Amy Rosenoff joined them in 2001.
Their vocals are frequently compared to those of The Cure; other influences include My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division.
[1] Their music is of an ethereal, melodic nature; this ambient sound is created largely by heavy use of distortion and feedback effects in Han's guitar.
Two songs from that album, "Raining Down" and the title-track instrumental, were preloaded in the Rio Carbon MP3 Players.