‘Mercer’ is the debut single by new Leeds based duo DEVOIR.
Behind DEVOIR are Imogen Holmes and Jacob Marston; the latter is the drummer with black-clad alternative rock band DEAD NAKED HIPPIES although Marston once confessed “I grew up with New Romantic music dominating the stereo”. Meanwhile Holmes is the talented young lady behind IMI who opened for REIN’s London show in 2019 and released the acclaimed EP ‘Lines’. A product of lockdown, although ‘Mercer’ is entirely electronic, it differs slightly from the music from IMI in its four-to-the-floor construction.
So imagine GOLDFRAPP at an Alpine rave in the Hornlihutte basecamp next to The Matterhorn. As the cinematic techno builds, the magnificent voice that graced IMI tracks such as ‘Margins’, ‘The Fence’ and ‘I Feel Alright’ soars and shines, expressing itself at the extremes of alluring spoken word and piercing high soprano.
‘Mercer’ is perhaps the first truly great track of 2021 and accompanying it in monochrome, the simple but highly effective fast motion video sees the pair hard at work in their home studio as the world whizzes by…
“It’s a slight departure from IMI with a lot of similar threads, but hopefully a positive new direction” Imogen Holmes told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK of the concept behind DEVOIR.
The restrictions on many levels proved to be inspiring; “We were pretty limited in terms of gear when we first started working on this project, so we decided to embrace the simplicity and the entire song ended up being informed by the initial bass line and kick drum” she added, “We also took pretty drastic inspiration from the books we were reading at the time, which ended up being a really refreshing way of approaching writing”.
‘Mercer’ is available as a digital single via the usual platforms
With an album named after a lyric from ROXY MUSIC’s ‘True To Life’ off ‘Avalon’ and describing her music as “New Wave. New Romantic. Art Rock. Escapism.”, Suffolk based Sophie Mahon undoubtedly wishes she was in another time, another place.
Before DEPECHE MODE, SOFT CELL and the programmable technology revolution, bands who used synths like VISAGE, ULTRAVOX, JAPAN, SIMPLE MINDS and DURAN DURAN had conventional rhythm sections and it was this juxtaposition of electronics with inventive approaches to more rockist forms that created an accessible retro-futuristic sound which dominated mainstream music between 1979-82.
As with the clientele at The Blitz Club, stylish movie stars Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Sean Connery and Roger Moore are also a key influence for Mahon. So it’s unsurprising that ‘Xenon Nights’ opener ‘Black Tie’ is a winner; a sophisticated slice of art pop, it glistens with synths alongside conventional backing while Mahon showcases her fine contralto voice with the occasional Ferry-ism to outline her manifesto.
No doubt borrowing the title from the DURAN DURAN instrumental which was itself influenced by the William Blake poem, ‘Tiger Tiger’ uses the first “burning bright” line from that very prose and parties like it’s 1972; with its bursts of piano and sax, it could be subtitled ‘2RM’.
Despite a gloriously swooping synth in the intro, ‘Poster Boy Smile’ nods more towards the new wave power pop like BLONDIE and TALKING HEADS. Perhaps paying tribute to ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’, the mid-paced funk of ‘Mr Newton’ takes a diversion and is centred around an almost jazzy offbeat bass and drum jam.
Meanwhile, ‘Blue Eyes’ is punctuated by a big treated snare; a ‘Re-Make/Re-Model’ for today, it was inspired by Mahon’s unrequited childhood crush on a Simon Le Bon lookalike! But ‘The Beautiful & The Damned’ is rockier with dominant guitar and organ stabs; it actually comes over like TEXAS if the Glaswegians had been regulars at The Blitz Club.
Moving from dusk till dawn, a ballad in the shape of ‘Carousel’ recalls Roxy’s ‘A Really Good Time’ while over a shimmering bed of synths, the sparse ‘Night Circus’ offers greater air time for Mahon’s accomplished voice as the song itself moves away from the Roxy template towards the rosy prairie of TEXAS, but without the Ry Cooder aesthetics and using electronic squelches instead.
This latter phase of the ‘Xenon Nights’ sees Mahon in more like a conventional singer-songwriter territory and despite the use of synths, ‘Angel Of Stone’ does come over like a TEXAS album track in their ‘Rick’s Road’ phase, while the album closer ‘Splendid Isolation’ could be mistaken for Tanita Tikaram or Jacqui Abbott.
Sophie Mahon takes a flesh and blood approach to her influences and while some veteran fans of the New Romantic era may only find the first handful of tracks on ‘Xenon Nights’ to their liking, what cannot be denied is that she has a musical talent that has potential to shine outside of any niche.
Chinese band STOLEN had been due to open for NEW ORDER in Spring 2020 in Japan and celebrate their 10th anniversary with a national tour. But with the coronavirus crisis, these live dates were put on hold as the world went into lockdown.
After the restrictions were lifted in their home city of Chengdu in May 2020, STOLEN performed the first post-lockdown live internet gig to over 650,000 viewers across the world. With China being able control their pandemic and its citizens compliant with the ongoing but more relaxed restrictions, STOLEN were able to embark on their tour in November 2020 to a rapturous response.
Having already supported NEW ORDER on their six date European tour in Autumn 2019, STOLEN continue to solidify their position as the leader of a new generation of Chinese artists which also includes FIFI RONG, QUIETER THAN SPIDERS and Re-TROS.
Following the release of their excellent breakthrough album ‘Fragment’ on MFS in Autumn 2018, produced by Mark Reeder and his regular collaborator Micha Adam, the Berlin based studio partnership have given the Sinomatic techno-rock sextet a subtle makeover with a Sinful Remix of ‘The Loop Sin’.
With a video using fan-recorded footage from various gigs including the 2019 NEW ORDER tour where it was the set closer, the buzzy extended jam of ‘The Loop Sin’ is a classic Reeder production full of heavy propulsive grit and live textural enhancements.
But the new denser version applies an extra bounce on the bass while additional synthetic strings and rhythmic elements boost the climatic instrumental layers over eight minutes, showcasing STOLEN’s brand of Sinomatic technorock.
The parent ‘Fragment’ album, from which ‘The Loop Sin’ was originally homed, is a well-thought out, well-crafted record with plenty of adventure, space and mystery within its multi-genre cocoon.
It all illustrates why Mark Reeder considers Liang Yi, Duan Xuan, Fangde, Yuan Yu Feng, Wu Jun Yang and graphix director Formol to be one of the bands he has been most excited about since NEW ORDER.
Meanwhile continuing his artistic kinship with NEW ORDER, there will be a Mark Reeder remix of their most recent single ‘Be A Rebel’ released in Spring 2021 via Mute Artists.
The Sinful Remix of ‘The Loop Sin’ is available via the usual digital platforms
The original version of The Loop Sin is taken from the album ‘Fragment’ released by MFS as a double vinyl LP, available from https://mfsberlin.com/
In 2017, Taylor Swift reasoned in song that ‘This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’…
Sections of the Western World can be a rather spoilt, entitled and privileged bunch, priding themselves on the availability of opportunity but failing to see the bigger picture with the long term economic and social benefits of inclusion, such as universal healthcare in the US or European Union membership in the UK.
With 2021 beginning with a narcissistic insurrection that has only made America grate again, artist and extra-terrestrial PRIMO THE ALIEN highlights some of those ‘Bad Things’.
The project of the vivacious Texan singer and musician Laura Lee Bishop, with a fabulously sprightly popwave tune that is up there with Dana Jean Phoenix or Laura Dre, in the accompanying video, PRIMO THE ALIEN goes on a lockdown exercise walk in a deserted suburban cul-de-sac.
She then encounters a pick-up truck with a Trump Pence 2020 election campaign flag… the rebellious pink haired songstress takes umbrage and breaks into the vehicle. She grabs a red “Make America Great Again” cap and gives it a good cathartic stamping. Meanwhile, she takes the flag to her yard and sets it alight. Yeah, “IT FEELS GOOD”!
This may be just the actions of one person but when synth musicians such as John Maus have declared their support for Donald Trump in his insistence that the 2020 election was stolen, then this video is a symbolic statement. As Claudia Brücken from German band PROPAGANDA said in 2007: “Sooner or later, one has to take sides to remain human”.
Mischief motivated by optimism has always been a part of PRIMO THE ALIEN, whose creative persona was conceived around an intergalactic assassin sent back in time to 1987 who develops a love for not just the era but also her intended target. Produced by PRIMO THE ALIEN and Taylor J Webb, ‘Bad Things’ is a taster of two forthcoming EPs ‘Heart On The Run’ and ‘Rock Professor’ which will be released as a Siamese twinned mini-album.
Blessed with a dynamic versatile voice, PRIMO THE ALIEN has promised more pop and rock elements alongside variations on the electro aesthetic for this forthcoming double EP release.
Although she released her first album ‘To The Max!’ in 2017, PRIMO THE ALIEN achieved a wider breakthrough thanks to her more recent collaborations with noted synthwave exponents such as TIMECOP1983 on ‘My DeLorean’, BETAMAXX on ‘Watch Me’, SUNGLASSES KID on ‘Fixing Me With Love’ and ICARUS on ‘Vapor Memories’.
FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY are a band that continues to fly the flag for Industrial / EBM music as they release their 18th studio album ‘Mechanical Soul’.
The album features guest appearances from Jean-Luc De Meyer of electronic music veterans FRONT 242 and guitarist Dino Cazares from FEAR FACTORY. The turn of events of last year appear to have provided some excellent source material for the band, with titles such as ‘Purge’ and ‘New World’ appearing amongst the tracklist alluding to a very different future for the world that we live in.
The main discussion point re: album opener ‘Purge’ is in its similarity to the 2013 GESAFFELSTEIN track ‘Pursuit’; both feature an almost identical riff, but with the former one transposed up a couple of semitones. The musical DNA of DAF plainly runs through a track too which doesn’t especially evolve during its five minute duration, although the effects used on Bill Leeb’s vocals (including pitch shifting and Auto-Tune) help to keep the listener engaged.
‘Glass & Leather’ is far more successful and features a dramatic intro which eventually reveals a hooky distorted 303-ish sequencer riff and although this is repeated throughout the track, it provides a hypnotic soundbed allowing Leeb’s vocals to weave in and out of the piece. A 909 kick drum and open hi-hat drive ‘Glass & Leather’ to a mid-point breakdown with cut-up vocals before kicking back into the main riff again.
‘Unknown’ (which was released last year) is an album highlight and far more song-oriented with a hooky vocoder-driven chorus which musically recalls the band’s earlier sound on their ‘Tactical Neural Implant’ and ‘Caustic Grip’ albums. Also worthy of mention is the rather nifty post-apocalyptic promo video which goes with the track; featuring clips from the short Sci-Fi films ‘Sentinel’ & ‘Detroit, 2029’, they provide a perfect visual accompaniment to the song.
‘New World’ provides an early welcome change of pace, with a LFO-modulated synth riff and another vocodered Leeb vocal. Probably as close as one is going to get to a ballad from the act, the song is another highlight and showcases another side to the band with some superb monophonic synth programming throughout.
‘Stifle’ featuring guitar from Dino Cazeres has more of an early NINE INCH NAILS aesthetic and could easily have appeared on ‘Pretty Hate Machine’, whilst ‘Barbarians’ features the immediately recognisable vocals of FRONT 242’s Jean-Luc de Meyer over a slightly glitchy re-programmed ‘When the Levee Breaks’ style drum break. The latter features an undeniably epic chorus, with synth pads and a PWM bass synth part underpinning de Meyer’s “hail the barbarians” hook; again, this is another track to return to for repeated listening…
‘Komm, Stirbt Mit Mir’ (wonderfully translated as ‘Come Die With Me’) is not unlike an EBM RAMMSTEIN remix and features some intricate little synth interjections and a doomy underpinning string part which evokes the intro to FAITHLESS’s ‘Insomnia’. The album concludes with an actual remix of ‘Hatevol’ provided by BLACK ASTEROID who feature producer Brian Black.
Black is best known for being one half of MOTOR who worked with Martin Gore, Gary Numan and Douglas McCarthy on the 2012 album ‘Man Made Machine’. ‘Hatevol’ comes across as a bit of a ‘bonus track’, not surprising as it originally featured on the last FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY album ‘Wake Up the Coma’.
Although Industrial / EBM style music is not every synth-lovers musical cup of tea, there is plenty to enjoy here for those not versed in the genre. It’s very easy to pigeonhole work like this as being overtly ‘shouty’ and lacking in melody, but ‘Mechanical Soul’ is a fine example of a band that has stuck to their principals and is continuing to deliver quality product… highly recommended.
‘Mechanical Soul’ features the following instruments: Elektron Analog Rytm Mk2, Studio Electronics Omega 8, Roland Alpha Juno 2, Mutable Instruments Shruthi, Waldorf Pulse+, Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas, Ormsby DC7, Moog Model 15 reissue, Mutable Instruments Clouds, Waldorf Q+, Doepfer A100
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‘Mercer’
is available via the usual digital platforms
.
is released by Metropolis Records, in double vinyl LP, CD and digital formats, available direct from
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