It’s been a long time coming, but the day is finally here. Further to the release of a couple of noteworthy EPs, Plato’s Dream Machine will be launching its full-length debut album, Għera.

The launch will be marked by a live performance and will also feature guest poet Adrian Grima. The project has been partially funded by the Malta Arts Fund.

“Our last live appearance was at the Lissen festival back in 2012,” said Robert Farrugia Flores, the band’s frontman and bandleader. “Since that performance, we decided to take a step back from playing gigs in order to focus on making the album.”

That wasn’t the only tough decision the band took either as it re-evaluated its position at the time and what direction to pursue.

“We felt we had explored folk music quite intensely at that stage, so we started to experiment with more psychedelic sounds and to introduce electronic arrangements for the new songs we were writing.”

This is evident enough on Flien, the first of the band’s new material to see the light of day, which boasts a punctuated rhythm layered over a hypnotic synth riff, a combination that flies in the face of any notion of folk the band had embraced in the past.

“The absence of the accordion and flute sounds are clear indications of the shift in our overall sound,” the singer explained.

“Instead, we’ve brought in synthesizers, an electronic sampling pad and effects pedals to enable us to explore all sorts of sounds.”

The acoustic guitar has also been replaced with an electric one, its tone giving the music a distinct alternative edge that should definitely arouse the curiosity of the local music scene enough to be present for the band’s launch gig.

The album launch is on Saturday at 8.30pm at MITP, Valletta. Tickets cost €7 (entrance only) or €10 (including CD) and can be bought at the door. For details, look up the Għera launch event page on Facebook.