For nearly 30 years, Valerie Sassyfras has cultivated a loyal following with her unique and quirky musical performances. Equal parts theatrical and musical, the longtime local entertainer returns with her fourth solo studio album, Blast Off! A Cosmic Cabaret.

As with her previous work, the multi-instrumentalist sticks to the kitschy, off-kilter formula that has endeared to her to many. Over the course of the album’s 10 tracks, Sassyfras explores life beyond our earthly boundaries through the eyes of Mama Sassyfras and her sidekick, T-Rex. As strange as it may sound, Blast Off! actually provides listeners with a fun, light-hearted trip away from planet Earth.

The keyboard-fueled compositions lend songs like “Mama Sassyfras,” “Women R from Venus Men R from Mars” and “T-Rex and Me” a decidedly ’80s feel. Other songs like “Green Room on Mars” and “Under the Pale Blue Moon” take their cues from country music, while “Big Bang” draws from the early days of rap music as Sassyfras talk-raps her way through an explanation of the big bang theory.

The somber tone of “Space Oddity” presents the album’s lone break from the cheery, off-the-wall tone set on Blast Off!’s other material. The pensive lyrics cast a shadow of self-reflection that is otherwise not found in the eclectic world dreamed up by Sassyfras. There’s no doubt that you’ve likely never heard anything close to the type of music found on Blast Off!, but that’s what makes it half the fun because let’s face it─we all could use an escape every now and then.