Category: Reviews (Page 23 of 200)

MURMURS OF EARTH Fragments Of Stolen Light

2 November 2022 /

MURMURS OF EARTH began as a vehicle for Richard Sinclair who had already released two solo albums.

But keen to collaborate, he teamed up with TENEK front man Geoff Pinckney in 2015 who had also had stints as a member of the MESH live band and GLASSHOUSE who opened for Gary Numan on several tours. The collaborative dynamic is perhaps unusual but very modern; Sinclair writes the music and lyrics while Pinckney sings as well as providing his notable production ear and multi-instrumental skills honed from composing for film, television and games.

In previous incarnations, Pinckney may have occasionally prioritised chanted hooks and power but songs such as ‘The Art Of Evasion’ and ‘What Have You Done For Me?’ showed he was adept at the refined melodic styles of TEARS FOR FEARS, ULTRAVOX and A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS. Working with a kindred spirit like Sinclair in MURMURS OF EARTH has allowed Pinckney to explore those directions further.

Opening ‘Fragments Of Stolen Light’, the dynamic ‘Edge of My Dreams’ captures the melodic chill and pomp of ULTRAVOX and even the drops in an unexpected spark of brass like ‘U-Vox’ gone right. Following on, the pulsing overtures of ‘The Girl With The Turquoise Eyes’ recall VITAMIN Z who themselves opened for Midge Ure in 1985 and whose lead singer Geoff Barradale now manages ARCTIC MONKEYS…

With a synth and a strum, ‘Unwind’ enjoyably echoes German duo TxT and their 1985 European hit ‘Girls Got A Brand New Toy’ while ‘Someone Who Sees Me’ comes over like the 1993 version of ULTRAVOX fronted by Tony Fenelle, but that is not an insult as the track is a musically strong slice of atmospheric synth rock.

Over a driving electronic bass motif, ‘The Day the World Stood Still’ presents a midtempo groove and some choppy stringiness while using snakey vintage mechanisation, ‘The Travelling Man’ is a wonderful filmic instrumental that begins like CLUSTER but then morphs into something more strident and percussive before throwing in its own synth odyssey.

Throbbing alongside synthesized orchestrations, ‘Boryaku’ is another cinematic instrumental adventure that some would call synthwave but actually isn’t. With an uplifting pop refrain that slips into ‘Slip Away’, ‘A Trick of the Light’ sees Pinckey’s rousing vocals return as acoustic six strings sit comfortably with bubbling sequencers. The moody but glistening instrumental set piece ‘Hiraeth’ reflects the deep longing for home of its Welsh title and acts as a fine closer as the water waves drift away.

Eschewing total darkness, as the album title suggests, ‘Fragments Of Stolen Light’ allows some sparkle while retaining an emotional centre. This is not an album that appeases the dark festival audiences of Europe but one that will appeal to more sophisticated song-based tastes. With rousing vocals, thoughtful musicality and room to breathe, this is “syntherapy” for the maturer listener who believes electronic music shouldn’t have to involve shouting.

‘Fragments of Stolen Light’ is available on the usual online platforms

https://www.murmursofearth.uk

https://www.facebook.com/murmursofearthmusic

https://twitter.com/MurmursMusic

https://www.instagram.com/murmursofearthofficial/

https://open.spotify.com/album/33VcwV2tfLpQM8KmYDQVeZ

Text by Chi Ming Lai
2nd November 2022

JULIA-SOPHIE y? + <​/​3 // Double EP

28 October 2022 /

Anglo-French singer-songwriter Julia-Sophie Walker first tasted near-mainstream fame as a member of rock band LITTLE FISH.

Signed to Island Records, this came in a time before social media and streaming took over the world. When LITTLE FISH disbanded as 2012 concluded, they evolved into the cerebral independent dreampop combo CANDY SAYS and it saw Julia-Sophie reconnecting with her Gallic roots.

But with the disillusionment of Brexit and her musical past, the Oxford-based musician began working independently and adopting modern-day DIY production techniques.

The end result has been music of an artier electronic bent with a Franco-driven focus to make music for the sake of making music to attain her artistic fulfilment. With an IAMAMWHOAMI style of cryptic hushed engagement, her first EPs 2020’s ‘y?’ (‘why?’) and 2021’s ‘</3’ (‘heartbroken’) issued respectively in 2020 and 2021 have now been compiled as the debut Julia-Sophie album by Third Kind Records who were also the label behind the release of the debut long player by Hattie Cooke.

Composed while in a state of personal crisis, the ‘y?’ half is full of depth, hazy but emotional and dark yet strangely spirited. In asking the question “why?”, ‘breathe’ is shaped by a sparse backdrop of percussive noise and drones, as Julia-Sophie allows her voice to shine before a sumptuous arpeggio kicks in and the remainder of the song expands.

Utilising a frenetic off-kilter set of pulses as a rhythmic centre, ‘x0x’ is an emotive avant pop statement as a forlorn Julia-Sophie declares “nobody wants me here”; and when it changes pace and takes a Gallic turn, its obscure mantra makes for compelling listening.

With a wonderful cacophony of delightfully odd sequences, ‘i told you everything’ acts as an instrumental interlude while in some ways a conventional break-up song, ‘i left you’ is arranged as an absorbing slice of folktronica, with scattered synthesis running in and out of the aural spectrum.

Into the ‘</3’ half, the confessional continues the evolution. Themed around heartbreak, ‘and you know it’ asks “are you happy?” before proceedings move into an unexpected exercise in electro-jazzy two step.

Playing with glitch and an icy variant of mutant bossa nova, the lengthy ‘cctv’ is beautiful yet unsettling, but it then diverts into an experimental arpeggio that mesmerises in its layered weirdness. Utilising a speedy machine beat, ‘i wish’ is an eerie showcase for Julia-Sophie’s airy vocals asking “what do you want from me?” as the kaleidoscopic setting of synths and voice samples hypnotise.

Pitched up and at various frequencies, more vocal samples and manipulations shape the start of ‘love let you down’ before Julia-Sophie emotes her vulnerability and tearful heartbreak; “I want to see us love again” she pleads before the voices slowly melt into the backdrop.

By experimenting with song structures, synthetic beats and widescreen atmospheres to soundtrack her fear of rejection, Julia-Sophie has presented an intricate and intriguing collection of elegant avant pop in ‘y? + </3 //’.

The recently issued ‘it feels like thunder’ EP begins a new trilogy and another journey but for now, here is an opportunity to hear how it all began.

The ‘y? + <​/​3 //’ double EP is released on 4th November 2022 by Third Kind Records as a pink vinyl LP and download, pre-order via https://juliasophie.bandcamp.com/album/y-3-double-ep

https://www.facebook.com/juliasophiex0x

https://twitter.com/juliasophiex0x

https://www.instagram.com/juliasophiex0x/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
28th October 2022

DIE ROBO SAPIENS Robo Sapien Race

26 October 2022 /

DIE ROBO SAPIENS is the “ultimate 100% electro EBM project” by the members of trailblazing industrial metallists DIE KRUPPS.

Despite their electronic roots in Düsseldorf during the burgeoning Neue Deutsche Welle movement that emerged post-punk, DIE KRUPPS have become more metal than machine over the past decade or so. But their leader Jürgen Engler plus Kameraden Ralf Dörper and Marcel Zürcher were seeking a Sonderkraftfahrzeugfor for some of the more synthesizer-dominated material that had been written but couldn’t be used in today’s rockier template of DIE KRUPPS.

Mit Gitarren verboten, DIE ROBO SAPIENS is that Sd.Kfz. – “Imagine the Düsseldorf sound of KRAFTWERK mixed with hard DIE KRUPPS EBM” said Jürgen Engler, “This combination of styles has been spooking around my brain for a while, and it was time to put it into action”. The resultant album ‘Robo Sapien Race’ is conceived around the dehumanization and technological dependency of mankind… “without it you are nothing… so conform or revolt!”

Opening proceedings mit keine melodien, ‘Teufelskreis’ is a barrage of Teutonic bliss contained within a vicious circle of devilish hooks and infectious rhythms.

Not deviating too far out, ‘Transrapid Rapid’ really is the KRAFTWERK meets hard EBM template that the press releases promised. The thumping ‘Robotimierung’ probably has the most prominent percussive presence of all the tracks, although there are hints of YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA in a darker take on ‘Camouflage’, the very track that the German synthpop trio from Bietigheim-Bissingen named themselves after.

With a rumbling squelch, ‘Robo Normativ’ is fierce sci-fi disco but ‘Düsseldorf’ is a total surprise, a pretty crystalline instrumental in tribute to their home city. But the energy all ramps up again with the marvelous eponymous statement ‘Robo Sapien’, the English language track by DIE KRUPPS that seeded the concept and an example of the more machine than metal approach, like RAMMSTEIN being eaten by DAF.

The brilliant robopop of ‘Tanz Mit Dem Roboter’ does what it says on the tin while hard and fast with a stuttering offbeat as ‘Automatenland’ nods towards melodically to KRAFTWERK as vocoders and synthetics sweep through. However, ‘Niemals Stillstehen’ is even more frantic, speedy in many ways as a laser battle with a cyborg invasion, there really is no opportunity to stand still. Then embracing a tension reminiscent of DAF’s ‘Der Mussolini’, ‘Electro / Spannung’ has its darkness offset by pretty ‘Computerliebe’ keys.

For those who miss the earlier template of DIE KRUPPS or wished KRAFTWERK had been more aggressive, ‘Robo Sapien Race’ is that perfect body musik solution; powerful yet accessible, Germanic yet melodic, hard yet upbeat! The message is “Volle EBM Kraft Voraus!”

‘Robo Sapien Race’ is released as a CD, limited deluxe double CD with remixes, vinyl LP with turntable slipmat and download by Alfa Matrix on 28th October 2022, available from https://store.alfa-matrix-store.com/product/die-robo-sapiens-robo-sapien-race-2cd/

https://www.facebook.com/DieRoboSapiens

http://www.diekrupps.de/

https://www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial

https://twitter.com/diekruppsband

Text by Chi Ming Lai
26th October 2022

SIN COS TAN Living In Fear

21 October 2022 /

After a low-key return with the ‘Drifted’ EP in Autumn 2021, SIN COS TAN are fully back into their creative stride with a whole album of new material under the title of ‘Living In Fear’.

While ‘Drifted’ saw the Finnish duo of Juho Paalosmaa and Jori Hulkkonen inspired by the experiences of separation during the pandemic, with current events and the bear next door, ‘Living In Fear’ will resonate with anyone resident in Finland or anywhere in the civilised world. The premise of the fourth SIN COS TAN album is “Do you fear the dark, love, war, or yourself? Whatever the answer, you can be certain: Fear is a powerful thing.”

It was with Juho Paalosmaa’s other band VILLA NAH that Jori Hulkkonen first worked with his SIN COS TAN partner as co-producer; that 2010 album ‘Origin’ released had magic all over it and led to Paalosmaa and his VILLA NAH partner Tomi Hyyppä opening for OMD on the ‘History Of Modern’ tour. While VILLA NAH finally released a follow-up ‘Ultima’ in 2016, Paalosmaa and Hulkkonen had a chemistry that needed an outlet so SIN COS Tan came into being around 2012 as a “synthesized duo of great promise, broken dreams, and long nights”.

The ‘Living In Fear’ album has a rhythmic sub-PET SHOP BOYS opener in ‘You Again’ although it maintains a flighty chill while boosted by a catchy chorus that acts as a burst of escapist optimism. ‘More Than I Can Love’ enters housey Europop territory with ‘What Is Love?’ as a reference in particular, but the deeper drawl provides the offset like Haddaway doing ‘Enjoy The Silence’ with a Nordic twist. Meanwhile the windswept electro-motorik of ‘Endless’ uses the melodic synthy highs of OMD to counter the melancholic expression and drone laden backdrop.

Taking in a moodier introspection, ‘Live For Today’ opts for a crystalline midtempo diversion but ‘Tightroped’ offers a throbbing disco-friendly excursion with elements of DAFT PUNK, although a tormented voice captures the localised anguish. However with that storm in the air, ‘Own The Night’ takes a film noir approach coupled to multi-layered rhythm construction.

‘Killing Dreams’ is moody and almost AIR-like, the nocturnal atmosphere recalling SIN COS TAN’s eponymous debut but with more of a groove but ‘Solitaire’ takes atmospheric IDM elements for a smoky drifting sensation while chugging wonderfully like a locomotive that features gorgeous bursts of synths and a haunted vocal refrain reminiscent of 2012’s ‘Trust’.

Taking things down a touch, SIN COS TAN are ‘Not In The Business Of Forgiving’, but the closing number ‘War Time’ applies an array of keyboard motifs and a primitive drum machine for a strident theme climaxing with barrels of cinematic arthouse drama.

A prolific period between 2012 to 2015 saw the release of the ‘Sin Cos Tan’, ‘Afterlife’ and ‘Blown Away’ albums as well as the ‘Smile Tomorrow Will Be Worse’ EP, so applying that much creative intensity over such a short period of time was bound to take its toll. But after the toe dipping exercise of ‘Drifted’, it is clear that the hiatus has re-energised Paalosmaa and Hulkkonen. The end result is that ‘Living In Fear’ is SIN COS TAN’s best and most accessible body of work since their 2012 eponymous debut.

‘Living In Fear’ is released by Solina Records as a limited edition vinyl LP and download

http://solinarecords.com/sincostan/

https://www.facebook.com/homeofsincostan

https://www.instagram.com/sincostan_official/

https://open.spotify.com/album/5YV4ipd9SazWkN4FHHdJuN

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Rainer Geselle
21st October 2022

SOFTWAVE Aspire EP

14 October 2022 /

As the title of the new SOFTWAVE EP suggests, every song on it has an aspiring story.

‘Aspire’ is the Danish synthpop duo’s first new body of work since they opened for OMD at the start of 2020 on the Scandinavian leg of their ‘Souvenir’ greatest hits tour.

The inspiration came after Catrine Christensen and Jerry Olsen were chosen to remix a couple of track for Andy Bell of ERASURE’s ‘Club Torsten’ collection. These songs document their own existential crisis over the lockdown period while seeking to motivate others to achieve new goals.

Opening ‘Aspire’ with the bittersweet superpop of ‘Thank You For Breaking My Heart’, it reflects on the positives of a toxic relationship ending, with shackles unlocked and new opportunities beckoning. Embracing the glistening shades of vintage ERASURE, this solo Christensen composition declares “Without you there’s no dark” as light shines again through this catchy Eurodisco with Olsen’s Clarkean interventions.

More rugged, ‘Supernova’ is the classic SOFTWAVE vein, with rousing verses and uplifting choruses over a backing track rich in counter melody akin to ‘Something Is Missing’. Dedicated to Andy Bell himself as a one of a kind worth looking up to, it also ably captures the bubbly poise of ERASURE.

With a fight back, ‘Don’t Bully Me Again’ gets its message across in a midtempo number seeking détente, while ‘Wake Up’ plays with rhythm variation to reinforce its tension, poignantly declaring “we’ve run out of fuel” as a challenging winter looms.

Ending with ‘This World’, this number is a highlight as it presents a darker austere than previous SOFTWAVE songs, with a depth that could point to a future direction. “We want people to go deeper and reflect on how they see the world today” said Christensen, “We just want people to think themselves”. Despite the sombre feel, it is a call to action that fits with the aspirational aims of this EP to encourage people not be afraid of the dark and to stick together.

As strange times continue, despite the adversity, there is always hope and it is a message that SOFTWAVE have provided clearly with ‘Aspire’.

‘Aspire’ is available digitally from https://softwave.bandcamp.com/

http://www.softwavemusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SoftWaveMusic/

https://twitter.com/SoftWaveMusic

https://www.instagram.com/softwave_music/

https://open.spotify.com/album/5HszMfuNt2GHFhw6bPaw68

Text by Chi Ming Lai
14th October 2022

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