Chris Hadfield's Space Sessions album aims to send listeners off planet

Canadian astronaut ColonelChris Hadfield wants to share music that's out of this world, with a new album of songs called Space Sessions that he recorded up in space.

The social media-savvy space superstar commanded the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013, using any precious free moments during his five months' stay to play the Canadian-made guitar that NASA psychologists had sent up there.

The result isSpace Sessions: Songs From a Tin Can.LaunchedFriday, it'sbilled as the first "off planet" album.

• WATCH |Chris Hadfield details songwriting 'off planet' for Space Sessions

In space, Hadfield says he had to re-learn how to hold the guitar due to the effects of being weightless. His voice also changed.

"Without gravity, your sinuses never drain," Hadfield told CBC News. "So it's like having a perpetual head cold, trying to sing."

Hadfield'sversion of David Bowie'sSpace Oddity, recorded inside the ISS, became a viral hit. It's now been viewed more than26 million times.

He also collaborated from the ISS with Barenaked Ladies on the Music Monday song I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing).

Sounds from space: Hadfield teams with Barenaked Ladies

12 years ago

Duration 2:41

Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson had known Chris Hadfield for some time, but the singer-songwriter dropped everything when the astronaut suggested a unique collaboration

Once back on earth, Hadfield decided to share the music he wrote and recorded while in space, though he stresses that he isn't trying to become a professional musician.Juno Award-winning producer Robbie Lackritz finished Space Sessions,adding instrumentation from notable local musicians.

The album's 11 original songs (Space Oddity is included as a bonus track) are Hadfield's attempt to capture his unique experience. He wants people to understand space travel,since he sees that as our future.

In the song Feet Up, Hadfield croons, "Can't put my feet up/Can't hold my lunch down/Turning the sound up/I start to spin round/Can't stand on my own two feet/I just float away/I took a ride in a hot, hot seat/Now I'm ready to play far away".

Hadfield cites some of his favourite singers Gordon Lightfoot, Stan Rogers, Ian Tyson, Burton Cummings as an influence on his vocals, melodies and lyrics.

"I'm not the world's best musician, I'm not the world's worst musician, I'm just a musician," said Hadfield.

But what's important for us to remember is this is "our first effort and our artistic expression of what it's like to live on board a spaceship."

The proceeds from sales of Space Sessions will go to music education.