Category: Reviews (Page 50 of 200)

UNIFY SEPARATE Embrace The Fear

5 June 2021 /


As many take their first steps into the outside world, with the prospect of interacting with others again, anxieties that have developed over the past 15 months will no doubt linger for a while…

But for Scottish Swedish duo UNIFY SEPARATE, formally known as US, it is time to ‘Embrace The Fear’. Vocalist Andrew Montgomery said: “The basic idea for ‘Embrace the Fear’ actually dates to a little while before the pandemic, but I must have had my Mystic Meg hat on when I came up with the lyrics because it seems to resonate with what we have been through!”

While the theme is relatable to lockdown, ‘Embrace The Fear’ touches on the more general existential crises that afflict many as they navigate a life crossroads. “It’s about that general feeling of seeming to be a bit trapped by life / circumstances and wanting to break out of that – something that we have all been feeling for the past year and a bit, for sure”  continued Montgomery, “Musically, Leo is channelling a bit of NEW ORDER and DAFT PUNK here, especially with the very driving live bass. It suits the intensity of the song, I think.”

But despite the air of unease and the grittier disposition, as with most of UNIFY SEPARATE’s output, there is light at the end of the tunnel; “If it can provide a bit of hope and inspiration for people as we tread warily back into the normal world, then that’s humbling, and so much the better”.

Acting as the perfect symbolism for ‘Embrace The Fear’ is a fairground… after all, where else entertains and terrifies people in equal measures! “We really got lucky with the video!” remembered the one-time front man of indie band GENEVA, “The cinematographer, Tobias Andersson, is a great friend of ours and has collaborated on the video for ‘Dying on the Vine’. His fiancée works at the famous Gröna Lund funfair in Stockholm, and it just seemed like too good an opportunity not to ask politely, especially seeing as the park was not yet open and only actually opened up on June 1st.”

With the 140 year old theme park acting as the backdrop, the scene was set: “At the time of filming, it still had that eerie dystopian future emptiness that really suits the sentiments behind the track. Our mate Rasmus Lindgren was the perfect guy for the lead role, and we’re really happy with how it turned out.”

And as Lindgren embraces finds freedom in thrills and dance despite his nervousness, Andrew Montgomery and Leo Josefsson clear up after him while donned in their protective overalls. A soaring song that at times touches on MUSE’s ‘Uprising’ (or ‘White Wedding’ by Billy Idol depending on your age!) and makes the most out of Montgomery’s emotive falsetto, ‘Embrace The Fear’ offers cautious optimism within a wholly fitting audio visual statement.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to UNIFY SEPARATE

‘Embrace The Fear’ is released as a digital single, available direct from https://unifyseparate.bandcamp.com/

http//www.unifyseparate.com

https://www.facebook.com/usmusicspace

http://www.instagram.com/unify_separate

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0h9f9Dz3aVBP41aEF3GDON

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Hilding Bjersby
5th June 2021

DAS BEAT Identität EP

4 June 2021 /


A product of Berlin’s 2020 lockdown, DAS BEAT comprise of German theatre actress Eddie Rabenberger and Agor Kerby from the Canadian electronic act BLUE HAWAII.

Rabenberger’s résumé includes opera, acrobatics, ballet, fencing skills and stage combat among her skills and talents. Meanwhile Kerby moved from Montreal to Berlin in 2018, but despite this, BLUE HAWAII released their third album ‘Open Reduction Internal Fixation’ in 2019.

With songs sung in German and English, DAS BEAT are quirkily rhythmic with an eye on the unorthodox nature of performance art, propping up a mix of Neue Deutsche Welle, Italo disco and dreamy atmospherics as they seek “to blast both boredom and boundary”.

With Amanda Lear and Gina Kikoine as influences, the hypnotic electro-cabaret of ‘Bubble’ is incessant detached disco for the outsider, as Rabenberger expresses the emotions of dancing alone. Despite the intensity, like its two muses, the bilingual alto vocal and vocoder delivery is also strangely playful. Meanwhile the ‘Identität’ title song utilises a Moroder-esque throb with some unexpected flute flourishes and shouty Mädchen expression like MALARIA! doing ‘I Feel Love’!

Much more laid back and inspired by the Cretan princess in Greek mythology, ‘Ariadne’ uses a charming vintage drum box and minimal harmonic six string to apply a muzak vibe that allows Rabenberger’s strident vocals to shine with the message that following break-up can come strength.

The closing number ‘Jackie’ is the EP’s most conventional sounding offering, being more guitar focussed with a lively use of drums despite the overall tone of resignation that is reminiscent of Nico, although not so quite so Götterdämmerung. Despite the Austere Gothic, there is light creeping through from the synth and the flute.

Released on Arbutus Records, the Canadian independent that was the home to GRIMES before she hooked up with Elon Musk, ‘Identität’ is a fine debut EP from DAS BEAT. Based on this diverse showcase and when the world is allowed out to play again, if more music is forthcoming from Eddie Rabenberger and Agor Kerby, that would be most welcome.

The ‘Identität’ EP is released by Arbutus Records on 4th June 2021, available from https://dasbeatofficial.bandcamp.com/album/identita-t-ep

https://www.instagram.com/das.beat/

https://soundcloud.com/dasbeatofficial

https://arbutusrecords.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
4th June 2021

FM ATTACK The Never Ending

30 May 2021 /


Shawn Ward says ‘The Never Ending’ is his last FM ATTACK album, but it’s a good one to end the story. The Canadian’s 2009 debut album ‘Dreamatic’ got a profile boost in 2011 when Ryan Gosling declared himself a fan of the record during interviews promoting the now-influential cult movie ‘Drive’.

2013’s ‘Déjà Vu’ moved into more song-based territory, while the third FM ATTACK album ‘Stellar’ in 2017 gave a showcase to Ward’s love of new-wave and post-punk. 2019’s ‘New World’ featured MECHA MAIKO and VANDAL MOON on vocals alongside the more understated tones of Ward to forward the template further.

Of his production style, Shawn Ward said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “I’m a vintage synth nerd, there is something very unique about programming your own sounds, the ones I use often are the Roland Jupiter 8, Jupiter 4 and the Emu Emax…”

‘The Never Ending’ sparkles with dream pop flourishes to add to the synthy experience while still being danceable, as epitomised by the sprightly opener ‘Days Like These’ which is swooped in aural optimism. Moderating to a more cruising pace, ‘Lonely Nights’ sees the first of Shawn Ward’s lead vocals, sweetened by Moroder-style vocoder phrasing. Meanwhile, following on with another vocalled track, ‘Footprints’ pulses and rings within a delightful percolating backdrop.

Taking centre-stage on the collection, ‘Hypnotize’ is a throbbing vocoder-laced highlight where the uptempo triplet groove is indeed hypnotizing. ‘So Blue’ features a sweet vocal refrain from his daughter Stella and utilises grainy synthetic strings and melodic six-string to head into what THE CURE might have sounded like had they been more electro.

‘Cinematic’ is possibly the most synthwave track on the album with its archetypical sombre bassline and full-on synthetic toms but the ringing chimes help it enter a different headspace, while the marvellously energetic ‘Starlight’ offers euphoric disco potential reminiscent of PET SHOP BOYS that more than reaches the hotspot.

Closing the album with the beautifully transient ‘Nova Child’, it outlines the gloriously understated craft that Shawn Ward puts into his music and perhaps signals a future direction as he retires FM ATTACK.

Longstanding fans will not be disappointed with ‘The Never Ending’, but for the curious who have not explored FM ATTACK before, this is an uplifting work which is just the tonic as the world comes out to play again. It may even lead to a journey to explore the catalogue of one of the North America’s leading synth exponents of the past 12 years.

‘The Never Ending’ is released by Starfield Music in vinyl LP, cassette and digital formats direct from
https://fmattack.bandcamp.com/album/the-never-ending

https://www.facebook.com/fmattackmusic/

https://twitter.com/fmattack

https://www.instagram.com/fmattack/

https://open.spotify.com/album/1E1hMtC817hSCTNbXWOelp

Text and Photo by Chi Ming Lai
30th May 2021

SEA FEVER De Facto

29 May 2021 /

Continuing the musical lineage of Manchester, SEA FEVER began their account with the sombre indie rock of ‘Crossed Wires’ while ‘Folding Lines’ offered some orchestrated filmic drama.

But their frantic new single ‘De Facto’ is their much more electronic statement, a punchy sequenced construction that is likely to fill indie club dancefloors while also crossing over to lovers of synth.

It is a delightful electro-disco feast with a rhythm rush that screams strobelights and shoulder shuffles! But then this is not entirely surprising when closer scrutiny reveals that behind frontman Iwan Gronow are second generation members of SECTION 25 and NEW ORDER, Beth Cassidy, Tom Chapman and Phil Cunningham. Meanwhile Elliot Barlow, whose CV includes playing alongside Brix Smith Start of THE FALL, completes the quintet.

‘De Facto’ could be considered a more energetic second cousin of SHADOWPARTY’s ‘Reverse The Curse’, a band that Tom Chapman and Phil Cunningham were part of with latter day members of DEVO. Iwan Gronow said: “It’s SEA FEVER experimenting with song structures and sounds. We wrote the song with a thumping backbeat and pulsating analog synth. The song is about not being afraid to speak up, voicing your opinion and opening this void”

As SEA FEVER prepare for the release of their debut album, they have revealed influences such as SOULWAX, THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS, YEAH YEAH YEAHS, CHROMATICS, SUICIDE, AIR, TALKING HEADS, PJ HARVEY, THE HORRORS, THE CLASH, THE WHO and THE STOOGES as well as interestingly, Neil Young’s polarising 1982 vocoder-laden album ‘Trans’.

With the instrument line-up, gender ratio and band history, comparisons with NEW ORDER will be almost inevitable but if the music is really good, then that doesn’t really matter.

‘De Facto’ is released by Kartel Records via the usual digital platforms

https://seafeverband.com/

https://www.facebook.com/seafeverband

https://twitter.com/SeaFeverBand

https://www.instagram.com/SeaFeverBand/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
29th May 2021, updated 11th August 2021

GUSGUS Mobile Home

28 May 2021 /


Incredibly, now in their 25th year of existence, Iceland’s GUSGUS are primed to release their 11th studio album ‘Mobile Home’.

Already preceded by the singles ‘Higher’ and ‘Stay The Ride’, the nine track album sees long-term members of the outfit Biggie Viera and Daniel Haraldsson joined by Margrét Rán, lead vocalist of the Icelandic dream-pop band VÖK.

Album opener is the aforementioned ‘Stay The Ride’, but presented in a restructured, more instrumental overture-styled format than the original single.

Criminally short at 2 minutes 40 seconds, the track is a beautifully minimalistic / monophonic electronic piece with a Numan-esque synth lead line. There is something about the male / female vocal interplay on ‘Stay the Ride’ which evokes the spirit of BERLIN, and that’s not a bad thing…

The stumbling offbeat synths of ‘Higher’ appear heavily influenced by the Jon Hopkins track ‘Open Eye Signal’, but the addition of Margrét Rán’s vocals and distorted electronic stabs take the song into new territories. The beauty of many of the tracks on ‘Mobile Home’ (including this one) are that they avoid the temptation of over-production and feature a KRAFTWERK-like simplicity with just the bare minimum of parts to make each song function.

‘Simply Tuesday’ ups the tempo and is easily the standout here; an absolutely fantastic combination of electronic components and subtle pianos, its 4/4 kick drives against the arpeggios in the piece and the chorus has a superb vocal interplay between Haraldsson and Rán.

‘Our World’ is a song that has been kicking around in the GUSGUS universe for a few years now having originally debuted in their live set in 2016 in a longer more instrumental format. The album version sees a more concise mix with additional vocals and is slated as the next single release from the album, although this decision seems puzzling when pitted against ‘Simply Tuesday’ which arguably would have made a far more effective single.

‘Original Heartbreak’ slows the tempo down midway through the album; it’s pleasant enough and again beautifully produced, but suffers from the verse vocal melody unfortunately sounding a tad too similar to Tina Turner’s ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’!

Once the listener gets past that comparison, the track has some evocative Juno-esque echoed polysynths, lead line and a simple 4/4 kick which again showcases a wonderful minimalism that few electronic acts would be brave enough to pare their sound down to.

‘Silence’ takes the album into more ambient territory with rippling arpeggios set over a white noise-shot ‘Oberkorn (It’s A Small Town)’ percussion part.

At the heart of ‘Silence’ is a great song, but maybe a more upbeat production aesthetic would have showcased the track in a better light and help differentiate it from the other down-tempo works on ‘Mobile Home’.

‘The Rink’ follows a similar downtempo path to other tracks on ‘Mobile Home’, whilst album closer ‘Flush’ ups the BPM with an instrumental piece that cycles around its chords for just over four minutes and feels more akin to a film soundtrack piece.

When ‘Mobile Home’ is good, it is VERY good, ‘Simply Tuesday’ is almost worth the admission alone, but it’s a shame that the album doesn’t quite hit that peak elsewhere. At only 9 tracks, this is an easy album to digest, but does leave the listener potentially seeking a couple more upbeat anthemic songs for balance.

Having said that, when compared with other artists that have stuck around for this long, ‘Mobile Home’ will undoubtedly please fans of the act and the return of the male / female vocalist format is one which should excite GUSGUS fans for their future work.

‘Mobile Home’ is released in vinyl LP and digital formats by Kompakt for Europe

GUSGUS presents ‘Mobile Home’ live from Sundlaugin Studio, a worldwide streaming concert on Saturday 29th May 2021 – tickets available from https://www.momenthouse.com/gusgus

https://www.gusgus.com

https://www.facebook.com/GusGusOfficial/

https://twitter.com/GusGusOfficial

https://www.instagram.com/officialgusgus/

Text by Paul Boddy
Photo by Vidar Logi
28th May 2021

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