Category: Reviews (Page 6 of 193)

SOFTWAVE things we’ve done

10 October 2023 /

Since the release of their debut album ‘Game On’ in 2019, a lot has happened to the Danish synthpop couple SOFTWAVE.

Catrine Christensen and Jerry Olsen opened for OMD on their 2020 Scandinavian dates while they have crafted remixes for Andy Bell of ERASURE and one-time PET SHOP BOYS protégé David Cicero.

Following the release of the ‘Aspire’ EP in 2022, its 5 tracks are carried over to ‘things we’ve done’, the follow-up long player to ‘Game On’. In amongst the positive pop sound are lyrics highlighting the challenges of living in a modern world full of dualities. A number of these songs document the couple’s own existential crisis during the worldwide lockdown while seeking to motivate others to achieve new goals.

Recalling a phrase that the Northern English philosopher Rick Astley once sang, ‘Never Gonna Let You Down’ is a song of friendship and solidarity that makes optimistic opener as “that’s what friends are for”. But ‘Taking Life For Granted’ goes all ABBA-esque with someone “lacking gratitude” under attack, although the rousing chorus and a particularly joyous instrumental break provides the infinite hope.

More rugged, ‘Supernova’ is in the classic SOFTWAVE vein, with uplifting verses and choruses over a backing track rich in counter melodies akin to ‘Something Is Missing’ from ‘Game On’; dedicated to Andy Bell himself as a one of a kind worth looking up to, ‘Supernova’ ably captures the bubbly poise of ERASURE. There’s a change of pace with the more sedate ballad ‘I’ll Be Your Safe’ but ‘Wake Up’ plays with rhythm variation to reinforce its tension and hits highs, poignantly declaring “we’ve run out of fuel”.

The bouncy ‘Thank You For Breaking My Heart’ reflects on the positives coming at the end of a toxic relationship, with Christensen declaring “Without you there’s no dark” as light shines again with relief through Olsen’s Vince Clarke-inspired interventions. ‘Through Open Eyes’ takes a darker route for SOFTWAVE, but is still rich in brighter synth motifs.

Fighting back, ‘Don’t Bully Me Again’ gets its message across in a midtempo number seeking détente while the lively yet atmospheric ‘The Deepest Love’ provides a yearning ERASURE-ish anthem with lovely shades of Clarke and Bell’s ‘I Bet You’re Mad at Me’. Ending with maturer austere than previous SOFTWAVE songs, ‘This World’ provides depth in a call to action to encourage people not be afraid of the dark and to stick together in the face of adversity.

For SOFTWAVE, these are the “things we’ve done”, their positive demeanour and pursuit of setting examples as good human beings won’t be for everybody. But with their synthpoptastic drive, there is optimism and a “feel good” factor in their female-fronted ERASURE template as escape from a dour world full of warmongers, conspiracy theorists, narcissists and heartless decision makers.

‘Things We’ve Done’ is released to digital platforms on 13 October 2023, pre-save at https://softwave.lnk.to/softwave

The CD is released on 20 October 2023 with the vinyl LP sometime in 2024, available from https://softwave.bandcamp.com/

SOFTWAVE play the *Depeche Mode & More* Party at the Last Orders Pub in Neubrandenburg, Germany on 21 October 2023

The duo also host their own Halloween Party at Operaen Christiania in København, Denmark with special guests OHNOTHING on 28 October 2023 – tickets available from https://billetto.dk/e/softwave-live-pa-christiania-halloween-party-billetter-865714

SOFTWAVE will perform at ElectriXmas 2023 in Malmö at Inkonst, Sweden on 9 December 2023 alongside SIERRA – tickets available from https://electrixmas.org/tickets/

http://www.softwavemusic.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Krestine Havemann
10 October 2023

HOWARD JONES Celebrate It Together

3 October 2023 /

Celebrating the 40 years since ‘New Song’ was released as his debut single, High Wycombe’s most famous son releases a career spanning boxed set ‘Celebrate It Together’ to gather “The Very Best Of Howard Jones 1983-2023”.

Released on Cherry Red Records, ‘Celebrate It Together’ has been personally curated by Howard Jones into four categories: “Popular Hits”, “Electro”, “Chill” and “Curiosities”; it’s a mix and match of hits, remixes, album tracks, live versions and alternative recordings but with running order very much in mind. The set also comes with a fully illustrated booklet featuring a new interview with Howard Jones reflecting on his four decade career.

The “Popular Hits” are all present and correct, with reminders that catchy numbers such as ‘New Song’, ‘What Is Love?’, ‘Pearl In The Shell’, ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’ and ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ were many a young music fans entry point into the world of synthpop.

While ‘Look Mama’ is an example that not everything he did was of an equal standard, ‘Always Asking Questions’ which was initially the new track inclusion on ‘The 12” Album’ EP in late 1984 is an enjoyable curio from the ‘Human’s Lib’ era. Meanwhile from 1989’s ‘Cross That Line’, the reggae-inflected ‘Everlasting Love’ deserved a higher UK chart placing than No62.

From his most recent long player ‘Dialogue’, ‘Celebrate It Together’ is bouncy and immediate but 2005’s ‘Just Look At You Now’ with its ‘New Song’ lyrical references is superb and shows that Howard Jones’ songwriting abilities did not diminish over the years.

‘No One Is To Blame’ and ‘Hide & Seek’ are naturally popped onto the “Chill” volume and are among Howard Jones’ best ballads, but 2022’s ‘Formed By The Stars’ gives them a run for their money with its absorbing cacophony of electronics. The reflective ‘Will You Still Be There?’ from 1986’s Arif Mardin produced ‘One To One’ album is a welcome addition as an often overlooked item in the HoJo canon while ‘Sleep My Angel’ and ‘Someone You Need’ represent the sensitive piano side.

The “Electro” collection provides an opportunity for those who loved ‘Human’s Lib’ and ‘Dream Into Action’ but perhaps left the fan fold when Howard Jones began tailoring his sound for Trans-Atlantic audiences, to catch up with his recent electronic work such as ‘The One To Love You’, one of three collaborations from 2019’s ‘Transform’ with noted veteran dance producer BT.

The superb 2005 club-flavoured ‘Revolution Of The Heart’ from the album of the same name is undoubtedly a highlight while another is ‘Eagle Will Fly Again’ from ‘Transform’. ‘The Human Touch’ from 2015’s tech-themed ‘Engage’ captures a stomping synthetic spike that perhaps wasn’t so apparent in Howard Jones’ imperial phase while 2022’s ‘Who You Really Want To Be’ is similarly energetic.

Among the “Curiosities”, many will delight in the previously unreleased medley collage ‘Overture 2’, the self-explanatory ‘Havana Version’ of ‘Collective Heartbeat’ and the stark piano cover of David Bowie’s haunting epitaph ‘Lazarus’ recorded live at Siyan. Meanwhile 1997’s ‘Angels & Lovers’ from the Japanese only release of the same name is a good song that is deservedly rescued and if there is the desire to hear Howard Jones pay homage to STEELY DAN, that comes with a fairly identikit but enjoyable cover of Donald Fagen’s ‘IGY (International Geophysical Year)’.

With his continued optimistic worldview, Howard Jones remains a distinctive and recognisable artist with a wide range of styles and these are all represented on ‘Celebrate It Together’. If you have enjoyed any of his work over the past 40 years, there is something for you here. And even if you don’t like everything compiled in this set, what cannot be denied is the quality of this anthology.

In the booklet message to his fans, Howard Jones says: “I hope you enjoy this journey through the different phases of my career. Thanks for sticking with me throughout them and for being so open-minded and enthusiastic. There’s much more to come. I’m nowhere close to being done yet!”

‘Celebrate It Together’ is released as 4CD boxed set by Cherry Red Record on 6 October 2023, abridged double vinyl LP and double CD variants are also available, pre-order via https://www.cherryred.co.uk/artist/howard-jones/

Howard Jones 40th Anniversary 2023 UK tour with special guests BLANCMANGE includes:

Leicester De Montfort Hall (6 October), Birmingham Symphony Hall (7 October), Cambridge Corn Exchange (9 October), Manchester Bridgewater Hall (10 October), York Barbican Centre (11 October), Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (13 October), Newcastle City Hall (14 October), Cardiff St David’s Hall (16 October), London Palladium (17 October), Southend Cliffs Pavilion (18 October)

http://www.howardjones.com/

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https://www.instagram.com/thehoward_jones/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
3 October 2023

DUCKS! Yes You Can’t

29 September 2023 /

CONFIDENCE MAN have led the way with portable Australian party duos but following close behind as Berlin-based DUCKS!

With three albums ‘Ding Ding Ding’, ‘Nak Nak’ and ‘Things That Were Lost’ to their name, Lani Bagley and Craig Schuftan develop their “Music for dreaming and dancing” ethos further on ‘Yes You Can’t’. Produced from 4 years of late-night jams and studio explorations, the sound is swathed in the hedonistic freedom of the one-time Mauerstadt’s diverse art and club scene. The duo themselves describe the album as about “who we are and who we aren’t”.

With glitches, mantric phrases and self-samples, ‘A Proposition’ makes an elegant opener while the reggae flavour of ‘Shiver’ provides an interesting twist to the sax and synth backdrop. Featuring the Gallic allure of Canadian DJ Christa Belle, ‘Blame’ is shaped by a stuttering tribal snap and segues straight into the dreamglitch of ‘Mesmerised’.

Photo by Harriet Richardson

Things then take a dancey turn with ‘Swept Away’, a sunny club tune with playful pitch-shifted voices to compliment the main vocal that runs seamlessly into ‘The Dance Mania’ (again with Christa Belle) to continue the fun before segueing into the instrumental interlude ‘Tricky’. While still danceable, the artier ‘Hey You’ provides a slight breakbeat variation but ‘Unlonely’ gets deeper, as does the moody ‘Step Aside’.

‘What What’ featuring Linda Colour J will polarise in its garage template and vocal manipulations but to close, ‘Simply Indestructible’ springs a surprise with a drum machine driven indie guitar romp about an “apocalyptic masochist” with brass dressing thrown in.

Despite the album’s wider reaching topics covering self-image, playacting, denial, social anxiety, DUCKS! take the listener on an escapist neo-psychedelic journey out of the house and onto the dancefloor with a playful cerebral artiness. While not to everyone’s taste ‘Yes You Can’t’ is a fun avant dance collection that will be savoured by those who get it.

‘Yes You Can’t’ is released by Tiny Lights, available on the usual online platforms including
https://ducksmakemusic.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ducksmakingmusic/

https://twitter.com/Ducksmakemusic

https://www.instagram.com/ducksmakemusic/

https://soundcloud.com/ducksmakemusic

https://linktr.ee/ducksmakemusic

Text by Chi Ming Lai
29 September 2023

JORI HULKKONEN There Is Light Hidden In These Shadows

28 September 2023 /

“For my 50th birthday I wanted to do something a bit special” said Jori Hulkkonen, “however, the list of realistic projects quickly narrowed down on yet another album. I did manage to invite some friends and heroes to be featured on it, though.”

With words and music written by the ace Finnish producer at his Alppi-Houz Studios PT in Turku, Jori Hulkkonen has assembled an impressive supporting cast including Ralf Dörper, Jake Shears, Jon Marsh, John Grant and Tiga for his new album ‘There Is Light Hidden In These Shadows’.

Although he released his first solo album ‘Selkäsaari Tracks’ in 1996 , it was with Tiga that Hulkkonen first found international fame as Zyntherius with an electroclash cover of Corey Hart’s ‘Sunglasses at Night’ in 2002. Since then, he has also worked with John Foxx, Chris Lowe and Casey Spooner, as well as doing numerous remixes for the likes of CLIENT and THE PRESETS. All this while having a number of projects on the go such as ACID SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, KEBACID, DRUMMAN, STOP MODERNISTS, PROCESSORY and since 2012, SIN COS TAN with VILLA NAH’s Juho Paalosmaa.

With over a dozen long players already to his name, Hulkkonen latest opus opens with ‘The Becoming’, a spacey ambient poem that sees Ralf Dörper of DIE KRUPPS and PROPAGANDA enigmatically offer his treated prose. With patterns accenting on the offbeats, ‘Under The Rug’ provides a stuttering trance piece voiced by the birthday boy himself but actually refrains from using any percussive attack.

‘Hard To Bite’ sees Hulkkonen partnered again with his most frequent collaborator of recent years, Juho Paalosmaa; over a speedy heartbeat, the SIN COS TAN and VILLA NAH singer provides his characteristic anguish over a moodily arpeggiated backdrop. Once the front man of SCISSOR SISTERS but now a solo artist on Mute, Jake Shears unexpectedly dials down his flamboyant falsetto for a deeper growl on the excellent avant disco lento of ‘May These Bruises Be My Only Tattoos’ while Hulkkonen provides its layers and hooks.

Continuing the mood with the surprise of jazz piano, ‘She’s A Hunter, I’m Just A Gatherer’ featuring Art Feynman (aka Luke Temple) plays with all manner of rhythmic textures but the cacophony of sound might prove confusing to some ears on initial listening. But recalling NEW ORDER when influenced by Ennio Morricone and locked to a baggy groove, ‘Fan Fiction’ sees the dulcet tones of Finnish singer Ty Roxy captivate over an expansive Spaghetti Western soundscape.

On the mellower filmic side with echoes of the previous Hulkkonen project PROCESSORY, ’Countless Other Lives’ sees Jon Marsh of THE BELOVED on one of his first released vocal performances since a guest appearance with WESTBAM in 2020. However, the body gets strong as a full-on dance workout makes its presence felt on ‘Cruise Control’ with Norway’s Naeon Teardrops, the new more electronica-tinged project of techno exponent Per Martinsen and it provides a punchy dynamic diversion from the other tracks on ‘There Is Light Hidden In These Shadows’.

Displaying Hulkkonen’s love of PET SHOP BOYS, hearing John Grant on a house-driven pop track like ‘I’m Going To Hell’ is pure joy on the final straight before he reunites with old mucker Tiga on the sparse cosmic ballad ‘When The End Comes’ which hypnotises via its sequencer passages and eerie soundscape before coming to a sudden end.

While not all of ‘There Is Light Hidden In These Shadows’ hits the spot and some tracks are perhaps too long, all are interesting to the ear and the production cannot be faulted. With a number of outstanding highlights, Jori Hulkkonen proves once again why he has been one of the best electronic music producers in Europe for nearly three decades.

‘There Is Light Hidden In These Shadows’ is released by Blanco & Tinto Recordings, available on the usual online platforms

http://www.jorihulkkonen.com

https://www.facebook.com/JoriHulkkonen/

https://twitter.com/jorihulkkonen

https://www.instagram.com/jorihulkkonen/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
28 September 2023

RICKY WILDE X NINA Scala Hearts

27 September 2023 /

Ricky Wilde is the musical veteran who was first touted for boyhood stardom in 1972 but saw his future in the studio behind the scenes as a songwriter and producer, playing key role in his sister Kim’s international hits such as ‘Kids In America’, ‘Cambodia’ and ‘You Came’. Nina is “The Queen of Synthwave” whose single ‘My Mistake’ became part of a 2015 European Mercedes-Benz advertising campaign while she also has two solo albums ‘Sleepwalking’ and ‘Synthian’ to her name, along with a recent collaboration with Kid Moxie released on the prestigious Italians Do It Better label.

What originally started as a selection of songs intended for Nina’s third album became a joint artist collaboration with the pair standing centre stage together as Ricky Wilde x Nina. ‘Scala Hearts’ is the end result and is so named as the pair met first met at the same named former cinema in London when they independently went to see THE MIDNIGHT in 2019.

Despite the generational divide and both being natural introverts, they found common ground creatively and almost immediately collaborated on two tracks for Nina’s second album ‘Synthian’. With their collaboration ‘Runaway’ being a highlight from that long player, the prospect of further work between the two has always been eagerly anticipated.

Opening ‘Scala Hearts’, ‘Videotheque’ was the coolest of the quartet of Trevor Horn productions for DOLLAR in 1982 and whereas the original was cinematic disco lento, Ricky and Nina’s new version is toughened up for the 21st Century with the guitars adding bite without being obtrusive to the groove.

‘Causeway’ is so named after the Idaho-based dreamwave duo CAUSEWAY who inspired it; an emotive slice of dreamwave with Nina’s vocal taking centre stage with complimentary harmonies from Ricky, the contrast of pan pipes and shoegaze provides an unusual but effective soundscape. Meanwhile with a catchy rhythmic swing, the sun-kissed ‘LA Dreamers’ is like DOLLAR fronting TEARS FOR FEARS in a PENSOCOLA MIST with Ricky Wilde doing a fine impression of Ollie Wride.

Held down initially by an enticing arpeggio and soprano voices, as Nina erupts into an operatic sorrow on ‘Fade Me Out’ where the kitchen sink is thrown for with synth solos, gothic choirs and percussive breaks galore. Other aspects lodge into the psyche such as Ricky Wilde’s recurring “take me in, take me out” phrase and even the surprise of BEATLES vocal influences.

A very personal song about family conflicts, ‘Living In Sin’ sees Ricky Wilde take the lead on some growly anthemic artpop before declaring “I’M GLAD THAT IT’S OVER” while Nina interjects sternly like Suzanne Freytag of PROPAGANDA that it’s “business as usual”.

The previously released ‘Gold Heart’ was a Nina solo single configured as a dark widescreen ballad but the redux which was the sourced from the original demo is better; rousing pop in the manner of SIMPLE MINDS ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ from ‘The Breakfast Club’ soundtrack, there is even a sneaky TEARS FOR FEARS reference and yes, it does sound like Kim Wilde 😉

Airy and melodic, ‘Night & Day’ is not shy of its sprightly OMD synthfluence, while the confessional ballad ‘Fighter’ builds to a tribal climax as a song about bravery that wouldn’t be out of place in a theatre production.

Closing with ‘Lovers On A Beach’, a fabulous cover of the Italo flavoured Kim Wilde B-side to ‘The Second Time’, the throbbing end result is Nina sounding sexier than ever before. With sharp spikey edges boosting the trancey template, Ricky provides a superb extended end section that pays homage to Giorgio Moroder in the best way possible.

With classic pop references and a modern sheen, Ricky Wilde’s production on ‘Scala Hearts’ has an epic presence and but then, this is the man who made ‘Kids In America’ at the age of 19 we are talking about here. An admirer of early Synth Britannia and a synthwave enthusiast, this is the type of record Ricky has wanted to make for a few years but hasn’t been able to with Kim, so Nina has been the muse to provide that creative drive.

A very good immediate electronic pop record with plenty of hooks and subtle artiness, ‘Scala Hearts’ is without doubt the best long player that Nina has been part of and is leagues above most of the synthwave labelled stuff that’s been around and getting traction. This is a musical meeting of minds has the potential to appeal to a lot of people with the credibility to match, so let’s hope they do another one 🙂

‘Scala Hearts’ is released by New Retro Wave on 29 September 2023 via the usual online platforms at https://ninanrickywilde.lnk.to/ScalaHearts

Coloured vinyl LP and cassette editions available from https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/scala-hearts

https://twitter.com/Wildericky

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https://www.iloveninamusic.com/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Say Goodnight Films
27 September 2023, updated 29 September 2023

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