Synthilicious ditties aren’t usually the thing of the colder climates of Toronto, but as far DANA JEAN PHOENIX is concerned, the Atari worthy tracks flow like liquid candy; pink and glossy, sweet and retro.
Bringing back that elusive feel of youth, first loves and first disappointments, DANA JEAN PHOENIX offers feel good music that doesn’t have to be too serious and too complicated, recalling a world when things were simpler and exciting.
With a European tour approaching and including an Outland hosted event in London at Easter, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had the pleasure to chat with the Alternative Ice Maiden and check out her super poppy world.
Sheridan College provided your first musical education, what was it in the form of?
After I studied Jazz at Humber College, I attended Sheridan for Musical Theatre. The two experiences really helped me in understanding songwriting, song structure, and putting on a more theatrical show experience.
When did you start writing your own music?
When I was on tour as a singer for Canadian R&B Queen JULLY BLACK, I was inspired to write my own music. Then when I became a lead singer for the Canadian funk band, GOD MADE ME FUNKY, I got to hone those skills while writing more electrofunk and disco.
What attracted you to using synths?
My parents had a stacked record collection growing up. I would root through them and always come back to the albums that were heavily synth and funk inspired! Then I moved on to my brother’s electronica collection and fell in love with the warm, melancholic and nostalgia inducing synth sounds of BOARDS OF CANADA.
With influences from?
The greats like MJ, PRINCE, MADONNA and HOWARD JONES are always influences, but my love for synth funk in groups such as CHANGE, D-TRAIN, SHALAMAR, THE TIME, S.O.S BAND and ZAPP & ROGER are a major source of inspiration.
2013 saw you performing in musical theatre…
Right out of theatre school, I was fortunate to land a lead role in a show called The Musical of Musicals of Musicals at an indie theatre festival, which then got picked up by Mirvish (Canada’s equivalent to Broadway or the West End in London). I got to explore musical comedy in that time, which really inspired me to be fearless to try new things in front of an audience.
‘Drrty Shooz’ was your first long player. It was well received. That must have been a dream come true? How do you look back on it now?
I was experimenting in styles and stretching my voice in new ways on the album. Looking back, it was my stepping-stone into immersing myself in the synthwave genre, as it was the first time I had collaborated with synthwave artists such as SUNGLASSES KID and ROBOTS WITH RAYGUNS. It was an organic transition, merging my previous forays in songwriting to fully fledged synthpop and retrowave.
And then your music started featuring in motion pictures…
TIMECOP1983 sent me the music for what would become ‘Dreams’ and I got chills as I was writing the vocals because I knew it was special. Just as awesome as having that song featured in two Netflix original films and the PS4 game ‘Crossing Souls’ though, was getting to perform the song live with Jody in Stockholm last year!
For the stage adaptation of ‘The Wedding Singer’ in 2015, you were nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actress In A Musical’…
That was a totally rad experience! I played the role of ‘Holly’ played by Christine Taylor in the movie, so all of my costumes were MADONNA inspired and I got to dance and sing my heart out every night over super 80s pop music! I got doused with a bucket of water every show a la the famous ‘Flashdance’ scene. It was great example of how the retro aesthetic and nostalgia really resonates with people of all ages and backgrounds.
You’re known for your collaborations, which one would you say you’re the most proud of?
It’s always dope working with MECHA MAIKO – she produced ‘Be Alright’ on my new album ‘PixelDust’ and it felt great to collaborate with a fellow female synth artist from Toronto.
She also inspired me to start producing more of my own music, like my song ‘Funky Fly Free’ – my first fully self-produced song.
MECHA MAIKO also worked with you on ‘Cold’, which featured on her debut album ‘Mad But Soft’, and she was thrilled working with an icon like you…
I really dug her work with DEAD ASTRONAUTS, so it was hella cool finding out she was also a Torontonian in the scene. We’ve since performed ‘Cold’ live together in Toronto, Philadelphia, and at the inaugural NEON RetroFest in Rhode Island.
You’ve also collaborated with MICHAEL OAKLEY on a track called ‘Now I’m Alive’ for his new album ‘Introspect’… ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK can picture Demi Moore and Rob Lowe making out to that one!!
Right?! We created a powerhouse retro ballad.
It’s so fun to write and perform harmonies with an amazing singer and songwriter like Michael.
You describe yourself as a “Retro Synthwave Singer”. Could you expand on that?
A consistent theme in my music is self-empowerment and the courage to be in control of your own destiny. Retro music brings you back to a time when possibilities seemed endless and inspires those moments of boldness and courage. I combine these elements into pure synth jams that will make people wanna shake their ass on the dance floor and feel empowered while doing it!
‘PixelDust’ is girly and fluffy, fully reminiscent of the good old times; would you say you changed how you make your records much?
Since touring Europe and the US and Canada last year, my writing has become more focused to making songs that will rock in a live setting, keep you dancing, and make you wanna blast it in your headphones!
You’ve moved away slightly from pure Synthwave styles and have adopted other branches of electronic pop, which are your own favourite songs on ‘PixelDust’ and why?
I love rocking out with my keytar, Jareth, onstage, so it was great to add my first keytar solo to the Darkwave inspired ‘Red Line’ produced by Favorit89, and ‘Only One For One Night’ produced by Powernerd and ‘Iron Fist’ produced by Straplocked have made for awesome music videos.
But of course, you were born towards the end of the synthpop era, do you wish you were born earlier so that you could have experienced the real thing?
I’m actually so glad to be here and now. As awesome as the 80s were, there were huge barriers of entry for artists who weren’t willing to have record companies dictate their sound and image.
Today, we have the technology to binge watch ‘Top of The Pops’ and ‘Miami Vice’ and fully immerse ourselves in the era, but we also have the ability as independent artists to reach a broader audiences than before and have more creative control over our music and career.
The synth revival still continues, with the latest addition of ‘Stranger Things’, and the renaissance of the era’s clothing, gaming and music…
Proof that the world needs Synthwave! Anyone who resists is a total mouth breather.
Last year saw you touring Europe extensively, how did that go? Any favourite places?
I toured Vienna, London, Warsaw, and Stockholm and every show was special! I was overwhelmed by the turnout and the passion the European audiences brought.
Any plans to return and include the UK?
I’ll be playing London at Zigfrid von Underbelly Hoxton with Outland Presents on Thursday April 18th alongside KALAX and LEBROCK! Brett and Stu run a tight ship and know how to put together an epic retro party. I’m excited to come back and shred some more keytar solos.
What’s next for you?
I’ll be releasing a Deluxe Edition of my album ‘PixelDust’ with some darkwave remixes by Tommy ’86, Gregorio Franco, FacexHugger, The Rain Within, Dredd, and Oceanside85!! I’m super geeked to come back out to Europe in April for my ‘PixelDust’ Tour!!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to DANA JEAN PHOENIX
DANA JEAN PHOENIX appears at Zigfrid von Underbelly of Hoxton in London on Thursday 18th April 2019. Presented by Outland, the event also features KALAX + LEBROCK – tickets available from https://www.wegottickets.com/event/462089
With her superb debut last year, Hayley Stewart aka MECHA MAIKO grabbed attention way past her previous collaboration with Jared Nickerson on DEAD ASTRONAUTS.
‘Mad But Soft’ brought a much needed dose of romance into the world of electronica, showcasing sweet, poppy, yet slick synth, laced with delicate, girlish vocals, capable of interesting twists and turns. The first long player provided a plethora of easy listening synthpop candies, served with carefree nostalgia and a certain touch of naïveté and now the Canadian Geisha is back with a five track EP ‘Okiya’.
From the onset of the eponymous first track to the closing rhythms of ‘Interrogation Override’, it is clear MECHA MAIKO is finding her feet well in the vast ocean of electronica. While ‘Mad But Soft’ was a melodious offering, showcasing danceable pieces of various persuasions, the EP shows quite a different side to the artist. The catchy vocal escapades are still there, but this time mostly hidden behind the experimental sounds, quirky shift bends and curious drum patterns.
‘Okiya’ is gritty, ear piercing and vastly creative, captivating with a simplistic base and Japanese string instrumentation. ‘Bug’, accompanied by a video of a journey, continues the minimalistic, almost tribal feel, with Stewart moulding the sounds to her liking; it’s as if she’s playing with the shifting perspectives, deciding to achieve the complexity of cosmic proportions.
‘Moonrise Maintenance Co’ is a short instrumental piece, leading smoothly into ‘Ochaya’, containing chanting, bells and all things oriental, canvassed on a nonchalant classic styled synth.
The nod to pre-war Japan continues on the last track from the EP, ‘Interrogation Override’, which brings out more of the temporary pushing of boundaries, going way beyond the retro feel of ‘Mad But Soft’ where Stewart has done as promised: “it’s time to set free some tracks I’ve been holding onto and get working on something a bit more conceptually cohesive”.
She surely did so, utilising her love and appreciation of Japanese culture, this time going all out for the backdrop for ‘Okiya’: “It is 1930s Japan. World leaders have established a complex relationship with an advanced civilization from Alpha Centauri B, trading natural resources for new technologies. City populations skyrocket and the demand for luxurious goods and entertainment is unquenchable. A boarding house in Kyoto receives a new shipment of androids. The mother uploads all the necessary memories and relationships for the hundred new girls to begin their lives as geisha and maiko. These are the memories of one particular maiko unit”.
2018 saw Jean Michel Jarre celebrate 50 years in the business and whether the world really needed another of his compilations, ‘Planet Jarre’ was probably one of the better collected representations of his work for casual admirers.
But not standing still and releasing his fourth new album in three years, ‘Equinoxe Infinity’ continued the story as the French Maestro tuned 70.
SOFT CELL made a totally unexpected return for a huge one-off farewell gig at London’s O2 Arena; and with it came a boxed set, the ‘Northern Lights’ single and other new recordings which have raised hopes for a new album.
From the same era, FIAT LUX announced plans for their debut album ‘Save Symmetry’ with an excellent lead track ‘It’s You’, while B-MOVIE came up with their most synth-propelled single yet in ‘Stalingrad’.
But one act who actually did comeback with a brand new album in 2018 were DUBSTAR; now a duo of Sarah Blackwood and Chris Wilkie, as ‘One’ they reminded audiences as to why they were the acceptable face of Britpop with their bridge to Synth Britannia.
IONNALEE finally released her debut opus ‘Everyone Afraid To Be Forgotten’ and her tour which included choice cuts from IAMAMIWHOAMI, proved to be one of the best value-for-money live experiences in 2018, one that was even endorsed by Welsh songstress Charlotte Church.
CHVRCHES offered up their third album ‘Love Is Dead’ and continued their role as international flagwavers for quality synthpop, while EMIKA presented her best album yet in ‘Falling In Love With Sadness’, an exquisite electronic record with a Bohemian aura.
JOHN GRANT was on an artistic roll both solo and in partnership with WRANGLER as CREEP SHOW with two new albums. However, he was beaten by Neil Arthur who managed three albums over a 12 month period as NEAR FUTURE and BLANCMANGE including ‘Wanderlust’, possibly the latter’s best body of work in its 21st Century incarnation.
It was a busy year for Steve Jansen with a new solo ambient work ‘Corridor’, the well-received vinyl reissue of JAPAN’s two Virgin-era studio albums and his epic, more organically flavoured band project EXIT NORTH with their debut long player ‘Book Of Romance & Dust’.
Sarah Nixey went on some ‘Night Walks’ for her best solo album yet, a wonderful collection of everything she had ever been musically all wonderfully rolled into one.
Meanwhile Tracey Thorn went back to the ‘Dancefloor’ with her ‘Record’ which content wise was right up there with some of Alison Moyet’s electronica output from the last five years.
Those who liked their electronic music darker were well served with NINE INCH NAILS, IAMX, KIRLIAN CAMERA and HELIX, but after experimenting with the single only format for a few years, Daniel Graves announced he was taking the plunge again with a new AESTHETIC PERFECTION album.
The Sacred Bones stable provided some quality releases from Hilary Woods, Zola Jesus and John Carpenter. Meanwhile, providing some fierce socio-political commentary on the state of the UK was GAZELLE TWIN.
Hungary’s BLACK NAIL CABARET offered some noirish ‘Pseudopop’ and promising Norwich youngsters LET’S EAT GRANDMA got more deeply into electronica without losing any of their angsty teenage exuberance on their second album ‘I’m All Ears’.
Less intense and more dreamy were GLASSHOUSE, the new duo fronted by former TECHNIQUE singer Xan Tyler.
Aussies CONFIDENCE MAN provided some wacky dancey glitz to the pop world and after nearly four decades in the business, Canadian trailblazers RATIONAL YOUTH finally played their first ever concert in London at ‘Non Stop Electronic Cabaret’ alongside dark wave compatriots PSYCHE and Numan-influenced Swedish poptronica exponents PAGE.
While the new HEAVEN 17 album ‘Not For Public Broadcast’ is still to be finished, Glenn Gregory teamed by with live keyboardist Berenice Scott as AFTERHERE. Their long-time friend Claudia Brücken performed as xPROPAGANDA with Susanne Freytag and partnered up with one-time TANGERINE DREAM member Jerome Froese, releasing the ‘Beginn’ album in the process.
It was a year of interesting collaborations all-round with UNDERWORLD working with Iggy Pop, U96 linking up with Wolfgang Flür for an excellent single called ‘Zukunftsmusik’ and German techno pioneer Chris Liebing recruiting Polly Scattergood and Gary Numan for his Mute released album ‘Burn Slow’.
Based in Berlin, THE KVB offered up some brooding gothic moods with ‘Only Now Forever’ while Valerie Renay of NOBLESSE OBLIGE released her first solo album ‘Your Own Shadow’.
Highly appealing were a number of quirky Japanese influenced female artists from around the globe including COMPUTER MAGIC, MECHA MAIKO and PLASMIC. But there were also a number of acts with Far Eastern heritage like STOLEN, FIFI RONG, DISQO VOLANTE and SHOOK who continued to make a worthy impression with their recorded output in 2018.
Heavy synth rock duo NIGHT CLUB presented their ‘Scary World’ on the back of tours opening for COMBICHRIST and A PERFECT CIRCLE while also from across the pond, NYXX and SINOSA both showcased their alluring potential.
At the poppier end of the spectrum, Holger Wobker used Pledge Music to relaunch BOYTRONIC with their most recent vocal incumbent James Knights in an unexpected twist to once again prove the old adage to “never say never” as far as the music industry is concerned.
Meanwhile, Chris Payne co-wrote and co-produced the excellent ‘Walking In West Berlin’ EP with KATJA VON KASSEL while also revealing plans for an autobiography and opening for his old boss…
The surprise album of the year was Chris Catrer with his ‘Chemistry Lessons Volume One’ while using a not dissimilar concept with their second album ‘Hello Science’, REED & CAROLINE took their folk laden synthpop out on a US tour opening for ERASURE.
Steven Jones & Logan Sky harked back to the days when Gary Numan and OMD would release two albums in one year by offering ‘Hans Und Lieselotte’ and ‘The Electric Eye’ in 2016. Those veteran acts themselves celebrated their 40th anniversaries by going orchestral, something which SIMPLE MINDS also did when they opted to re-record ‘Alive & Kicking’ for the ’80s Symphonic’ collection although Jim Kerr forgot how a third of the song went!
With SIMPLE MINDS also performing a horrible and barely recognisable ‘Promised You A Miracle’ during BBC’s ‘The Biggest Weekend’, making up for the live joke that his former band have become was one-time bassist Derek Forbes with the album ‘Broken Hearted City’ as ZANTi with Anni Hogan of MARC & THE MAMBAS fame.
Other former members of high-profile bands were busy too with Ian Burden, formally of THE HUMAN LEAGUE returning with the Floydian ‘Hey Hey Ho Hum’ while A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS reformed briefly for an orchestral re-run of their catalogue.
With the release of their second album ‘Kinetik’, EKKOES handed over THE HUMAN LEAGUE support baton to SHELTER who came up with their best body of work yet in the more introspective shades of ‘Soar’
That darker approach manifested itself on singer Mark Bebb’s side project FORM with Keith Trigwell of SPEAK & SPELL whose debut long player ‘defiance + entropy’ also came out in 2018.
Having been championed by RÖYSKSOPP, Wales’ MAN WITHOUT COUNTRY returned with ‘Infinity Mirror’ while riding on the well-deserved momentum from opening for OMD, Ireland’s TINY MAGNETIC PETS embarked on their first headlining tour.
Representing North of the border were Ryan Vail and HANNAH PEEL, but hailing from Scotland were WITCH OF THE VALE who proved to be one of the most interesting new acts of 2018 having supported ASSEMBLAGE 23 on their most recent UK visit. There was a good showing from UK acts in 2018 with RODNEY CROMWELL, ANI GLASS, THE FRIXION and FAKE TEAK all issuing some excellent synth tinged songs for public consumption.
NINA’s long awaited debut album ‘Sleepwalking’ was a fine hybrid of synthpop and the currently fashionable Synthwave aesthetic; her live double billing with Canadian synthpopsters PARALLELS was one of the hottest tickets of the year.
However, the endless AOR excesses, moonlight sax breaks and highly unimaginative band monikers using numbers between 80 to 89 affixed to an archaic technology reference, illustrated by yet another neon sunset, VCR grid and Lamborghini, were becoming tiresome.
As Synthwave cynics, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s touch paper was being lit big time! The whole point of the synthesizer’s role during the Second British Invasion of the US was to fight against the insipid overtures of AOR like TOTO, CHICAGO and JOURNEY, NOT to make music coated with its horrid stench as THE MIDNIGHT did in 2018 with their long player ‘Kids’.
But there was naivety within some quarters too; electronic music did not begin in 2011 with ‘Drive’, an above average film with a good if slightly over rated soundtrack. However, its cultural influence has led to a plethora of meandering tracks made by gamer boys which sounded like someone had forgotten to sing on them; perhaps they should have gone back to 1978 and listened to GIORGIO MORODER’s ‘Midnight Express Theme’ to find out how this type of instrumental music should be done?
Many of the newer artists influenced by Synth Britannia that ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has featured have sometimes been accused of being stuck in the past, but a fair number of Synthwave acts were really taking the soggy biscuit with their retro-obsession.
Rock band MUSE’s use of glowing artwork by Kyle Lambert of ‘Stranger Things’ fame on their eighth album ‘Simulation Theory’ sent sections of the Synthwave community into meltdown. There were cries that they had “stolen the aesthetics and concept” and how “it’s not relevant to their sound”!
But WHAM! had Peter Saville designed sleeves and never sounded like NEW ORDER or OMD, while electropop diva LA ROUX used a visual stylisation for ‘In For The Kill’ that has since been claimed by Synthwavers as their own, despite it being from 2009 when Ryan Gosling was peddling graveyard indie rock in DEAD MAN’S BONES 😉
This was one of the bigger ironies of 2018, especially as MUSE have always used synths! One of Matt Bellamy and co’s biggest musical inspirations is ULTRAVOX, indicating the trio probably have a better understanding of the fusion between the synthesizer, rock and classical music, as proven by the ‘Simulation Theory’ bookends ‘Algorithm’ and ‘The Void’, than any static laptop exponent with a Jan Hammer fixation.
It is interesting to note today how electronic music has split into so many factions, but there’s still the assumed generalisation that it is all one thing and that synthpop fans must also like Synthwave, Deep House, EDM, Industrial and those tedious beach chill-out remixes.
Back in the day and even now, some fans of THE HUMAN LEAGUE didn’t like OMD, DEPECHE MODE fans only liked DEPECHE MODE and rock fans had a token favourite electronic band.
Out of all the acts from the Synth Britannia era, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had very little time for THOMPSON TWINS despite their huge international success, but their leader Tom Bailey’s 2018 solo recorded return ‘Science Fiction’ was warmly received by many.
Just as COLDPLAY and SNOW PATROL fans don’t all embrace ELBOW, it is ok to have preferences and to say so. Not liking the music of an artist does not make you a bad person, but liking everything does not make you a better person either… in fact, it shows you probably have no discerning taste! In 2002, SOFT CELL warned of a ‘Monoculture’, and if there is no taste differentiation in art and music, it will spell the end of cultural enhancement.
2018 was a year of good songs rather than good albums, with many of long players not as consistent or as of high a standard as the bumper crop from the Class of ’17.
However, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had plenty of material to choose from for its 30 SONGS OF 2018 and for obvious reasons, cannot include everything that was in this year’s shortlist…
So worthy mentions go to ANI GLASS, BLACK NAIL CABARET, BRÜCKEN FROESE, DANA JEAN PHOENIX, DISQO VOLANTE, DUBSTAR, EKKOES, FAKE TEAK, FRAGRANCE, THE FRIXION, GUNSHIP, HILTIPOP, IAMX, LIZETTE LIZETTE, TRAIN TO SPAIN and WITCH OF THE VALE. Interestingly, three graduates from the ‘Some Bizarre Album’ made it into the final list, thus highlighting the longevity of that particular vinyl showcase some 37 years on!
So with a restriction of one song per artist moniker, here are our 30 SONGS OF 2018 presented in alphabetical order…
AFTERHERE Breaking Rules
AFTERHERE is the brand new project of HEAVEN 17 singer Glenn Gregory and live keyboardist Berenice Scott, but with their roles reversed. Exploring their inner GOLDFRAPP but in a funkier vein, with groovy reminisces of ‘Twist’ and ‘Yes Sir’, the song seductively boasted a captivating sexually charged electronic energy. Berenice Scott said: “We always wanted to have a driving track on the album that you could hopefully move your feet to, party to… possibly get in a little trouble!”
Available on the AFTERHERE album ‘Addict’ via Manners McDade
While the Clarke was strong with this one, the first impression that came across with ‘Utopia’ was that things became a slight bit darker in the world of JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM. Despite that, there was a rousing chorus and percolating sequences to savour as he pointed out the futility of seeking that perfect future, when life has so much more on offer. “I wouldn´t describe the album as dark though” the DAILY PLANET synthesist helpfully added, “it´s absolutely a pop album.”
Available on the JOHAN BAECKSTRÖM album ‘Utopia’ via Progress Productions
For BLANCMANGE, ‘Distant Storm’ was rather unusual with its dance beat, reverberant Moog bassline and dreamy processed vocoder aesthetic. With a rousing, almost spiritual quality and elements of JAMES’ ‘Come Home’ creeping in for good measure, it displayed Neil Arthur’s comfort in working with producer Benge on effectively their third album together. “I wanted to sing it as though it was really detached with my voice being synthesized” he told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK.
Available on the BLANCMANGE album ‘Wanderlust’ via Blanc Check Records
Veteran Mansfield quartet B-MOVIE made their most electronic pop single to date with the chilling aesthetics of ‘Stalingrad’. Complete with an infectious synth melody, an eerie mezzo-soprano and using the crucial Second World War battle as a metaphor for a doomed relationship, it was possibly Steve Hovington, Paul Statham, Rick Holliday and Graham Boffey’s best song since their 21st Century reformation; appropriately, its B-side was called ‘Something Cold’…
Available on the B-MOVIE EP ‘Repetition’ via Loki Records
‘Get Out’ may have acted as a superb launch single, but starting off their ‘Love Is Dead’ album was the wonderful ‘Graffiti’. This was a classic kaleidoscopic CHVRCHES tune that punched the sky with some rousing vocals. It was also a supreme singalong showcasing Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook and Martin Docherty in full bouncy Taylor mode. Despite the downcast lyrical demeanour on lost youth and the passing of time, this was still a grand pop statement.
Available on the CHVRCHES album ‘Love Is Dead’ via Virgin Records
Australian duo CONFIDENCE MAN were a ray of sunshine in 2018 with their own brand of campy dork pop, being everything SCISSOR SISTERS should have been. ‘Don’t You Know I’m In A Band’ was an amusing satire on ego and sense of entitlement in the music industry. With an electro take on the groovy swoop of WAR’s ‘Low Rider’, a pitch shifted Sugar Bones came over like an inebriate Teddy Pendergrass while Janet Planet delightfully counterpointed in her alluring girly manner.
CREEP SHOW is the meeting of minds between eclectic singer / songwriter John Grant and the dark analogue electro of WRANGLER whose members comprise Stephen Mallinder, Benge and Phil Winter. On ‘Safe & Sound’, the quartet explored a spacious KRAFTWERK and GIORGIO MORODER hybrid to reveal gradually some wonderfully warm melodic synth textures to accompany Grant’s passionate lead croon. The project led to Benge also working on Grant’s ‘Love Is Magic’ album also released in 2018.
Available on the CREEP SHOW album ‘Mr Dynamite’ via Bella Union
Driven by a meaty electronic bassline and metronomic backbone, the marvellous vocoder-laden ‘Comrades’ by RODNEY CROMWELL captured a really chilling Cold War atmosphere, bathed in an ensemble of sweeping synth oboes and cosmic string machines. “I ended up thumping at the MicroKorg and came up with the opening riff” he said. Rich with melody and a panoramic resonance, it surreally captured the sound of Moroder being played through a Soviet Foxtrot submarine intercom system.
With ‘Falling In Love With Sadness’, EMIKA produced one of the best electronic albums of 2018. The record was a concept album of sorts, a musical reflection on generations of sadness within the Anglo-Czech musician’s family in her most personal statement yet. The pacey ‘Promises’ made the most of her lower and higher vocal registers, providing an eerie cascading harmonic with some rumbling dubby tension and booming stabs driving Eastwards with solemn spine tingling qualities.
Taking in more synthetic ambitions, FARAO’s second album ‘Pure-O’ was a playful bleep forward. While ‘The Ghost Ship’ saw Kari Jahnsen focussed on her forlorn little girl lost lyrics, the wonderfully uptempo ‘Marry Me’ offered an accessible PET SHOP BOYS flavour and romantic layers of vocals masking a deep scepticism of the institution of marriage, while the lush backing and chugging electronic backbone carried the air of her compatriot SUSANNE SUNDFØR.
Available on the FARAO album ‘Pure-O’ via Western Vinyl
Releasing their first new material in over three decades, FIAT LUX returned with the most splendid ‘It’s You’. As well as the bassline and harmony from David P Crickmore, the sax style was a fitting tribute to the sadly departed Ian Nelson. Singer Steve Wright said: “Lyrically, I hope, it expresses feelings that possibly everyone can relate to…” – their long awaited debut album ‘Saved Symmetry’ is expected in 2019.
Available on the FIAT LUX single ‘It’s You’ via Splid Records
The ‘Everyone Afraid To Be Forgotten’ album was easily equal to Jonna Lee’s work with IAMAMIWHOAMI. Best of the set was possibly the marvellous closing number ‘Fold’. Featuring exotic cascading timbres and spacey pulsars, distorted string synths added tan appropriate chill as Lee’s passionate vocals completed the filmic vibe. Less mysterious, the IONNALEE transition was a triumph, especially with one of the best value-for-money live presentations of 2018.
Asking if “it is foolish to dream”, ‘Someday’ saw KATJA VON KASSEL questioning a moment of passionate haste. “The phrase ‘Someday’ just opened it all up and everything else just fell into place.” the chanteuse said. Capturing the beautiful melancholy of ASSOCIATES’ Billy Mackenzie, the doomed romantic tragedy of the sadly departed Scot was echoed by the chanteuse’s deep forlorn delivery, accompanied by CHRIS PAYNE’s hypnotic bassline and haunting vox humana treatment over a simple rhythmic loop.
Despite their age, LET’S EAT GRANDMA have a feisty but mature musical ambition, as successfully realised on ‘Donnie Darko’, an 11 minute tribute to the troubled teenager haunted by a monstrous rabbit-like figure. Utilising a sedate start before morphing into a wonderful movement of cascading electronics set to a metronomic beat, there were passionate reflections on the subject of human suffering. It all went a bit “batsh*t crazy” into a glorious synthony before calming to its conclusion!
Available on the LET’S EAT GRANDMA album ‘I’m All Ears’ via Transgressive Records
CHRIS LIEBING featuring POLLY SCATTERGOOD And All Went Dark
Noted techno exponent CHRIS LIEBING teamed up with Mute label mate POLLY SCATTERGOOD on a stark polyrhythmic number appropriately titled ‘And All Went Dark’. The brooding minimalist electronic piece with its eerily poetic spoken contribution from Miss Scattergood saw the Essex songstress haunted by a “dark shadow on my shoulder” and telling how “a sickness took hold early on”.
Available on the CHRIS LIEBING album ‘Burn Slow’ via Mute Artists
With the name transcending Toronto based Hayley Stewart’s fascination with Japanese culture, cyber space and a love of vintage synthesis, ‘Mad But Soft’ was her first album as MECHA MAIKO. The magically crystalline ‘False Memories’ could have been part of the ‘Stranger Things’ soundtrack. Uncomplicated on the surface yet multi-layered and airy, this day-glow pink neo-instrumental concoction was well-thought through and deliciously produced.
Available on the MECHA MAIKO album ‘Mad But Soft’ via New Retro Wave
One-time RÖYSKSOPP collaborator Ryan A James continues to hone and develop his hybrid mix of luxuriant synthetics and subtle guitar textures as MAN WITHOUT COUNTRY. He said about the gorgeous electronic bubblebath of ‘Lafayette’: “It’s really a song about the end of a relationship, disguised as a song about Scientology, and how defectors of Scientology are disowned by their loved ones. The name comes from the religion’s founder Lafayette Ron Hubbard.”
Available on the MAN WITHOUT COUNTRY album ‘Infinity Mirror’ via Killing Moon Records
“Beware! It’s a scary world” and with their BRITNEY SPEARS fronting NINE INCH NAILS template, NIGHT CLUB took their sweet but sinister synth rock sound to its zenith with the title track of their second album. And when the children’s choir joined in the chorus to sing of demons everywhere, this was a musical trick or treat that no parent would want their offspring to be part of, the message being “they only love you if you swallow”!
Available on the NIGHT CLUB album ‘Scary World’ via Gato Blanco
A fabulously optimistic closer to NINA’s debut album, ‘80s Girl’ came beaming over like some missing song from the film ‘Mannequin’. With big Simmons drums, sampled orchestra stabs and driving synthbass triplets, it was however delivered with subtlety and restraint so that it wasn’t a HEART or STARSHIP pastiche. Dedicated to her mother, it had a telling message of “don’t let the past hold you back”.
Available on the NINA album ‘Sleepwalking’ via Aztec Records
Perhaps best known as the alluring if slightly blunt chanteuse of BLACK BOX RECORDER, SARAH NIXEY released her best solo album to date in ‘Night Walks’, a quality record with air and presence, collecting everything she has ever been musically, all rolled into one. One of its key tracks was the delightful ‘Journey’, a glorious number of the type that Marc Almond has often been so good at, laced with crystalline synths and gorgeously breathy vocal tones à la Jane Birkin.
Available on the SARAH NIXEY album ‘Night Walks’ via Black Lead Records
The ‘Savage’ album turned out to be both an artistic and commercial vindication for GARY NUMAN. ‘It Will End Here’ from ‘The Fallen’ EP was a natural progression from that, exploring a heavy but melodic electronic sound without relying on the predictable backing of rock guitars. With and anthemic chorus and the apocalypse is looming over the aural desert, there was even a soaring vocal pitch shift up at the song’s conclusion which added an extra eerie vampiric quality.
Available on the GARY NUMAN EP ‘The Fallen’ via BMG
NYXX is very much her own woman, like the Greek goddess of night she is named after, a figure of power and beauty with a Britney-like vocal presence that sweetly offsets some of her darker overtones. A collaboration with Daniel Graves of AESTHETIC PERFECTION who contributed a glorious evangelical middle eight, she said “It would not be what it is without him. I came in with a sketch of a song, a melody and lyric of another song… Daniel heard nuances in it and we built what is now ‘Voodoo’.”
Available on the NYXX single ‘Voodoo’ via Close To Human Music
Eddie Bengtsson and Marina Schiptjenko initially came together in PAGE releasing their first single ‘Dansande Man’ in 1983. Since then, the pair have parted and reunited on a number of occasions but the mission for the ‘Start’ EP was to party like it’s 1979 when GARY NUMAN was No1. ‘Nere För Räkning’ was an urgent slice of pulsing synthrock with a piercing vibratoed lead line akin to the keyboard interventions heard on ‘The Pleasure Principle’.
Available on the PAGE EP ‘Start’ via Energy Rekords
From Mission Viejo in California, PLASMIC describes herself as an “Orange County one-woman dervish” and in a vivid haze that’s pretty in pink, “your abused Barbie doll from childhood”. Combining J-Pop with CRYSTAL CASTLES and DEVO, the undoubted standout from her ‘Validation Nation’ EP was ‘Baby Machine’, an immensely catchy feminist electropop anthem utilising a mixture of vintage Casio and Yamaha sounds that challenged the expectations of women to bear children.
Championed by none other than Vince Clarke, REED & CAROLINE successfully combine tunes with electronic experimentation. The haunting ‘Entropy’ was a tribute to a departed friend and a fabulously touching GARY NUMAN homage to his ‘Dance’ period, in particular ‘Cry The Clock Said’. The hypnotic soundtrack of gentle preset rhythms and eerie electric piano, courtesy of a Buchla modular synth, was complimented by Schutz even adopting the phrasing of the man born Gary Anthony James Webb.
Available on the REED & CAROLINE about ‘Hello Science’ via Very Records
Weird and wonderful, ‘Red Moon Voyage’ was a ghostly 10 minute epic comprising of glitchy voices and varying rhythm constructions recorded especially for Halloween. Free of album concepts and the pop song format, this was FIFI RONG at her most adventurous yet, delightfully adding her native Mandarin language towards the third part. “Having a long journey means you can get very deep and lots of moods and transitions” she told ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK
Marc Almond and Dave Ball were the boys who came back-back-BACK as SOFT CELL in 2018. ‘Northern Lights’ reminisced about their days at the Wigan Casino and recaptured the pop essence that led to the duo having five consecutive Top 10 hits! Despite the grittiness and energetics, the duo always had melody and that came back in abundance on their welcome recorded return. The darker B-Side ‘Guilty (‘Cos I Say You Are)’ affirmed that as a creative force, SOFT CELL still had it.
Chinese six-piece STOLEN are reckoned by Berlin-based producer Mark Reeder to be possibly the most exciting band he has seen since NEW ORDER. Certainly their debut album ‘Fragment’ was impressive and one of the best of 2018, with ‘Turn Black’ being one of the standout tracks. “I like the idea of mixing of rock with techno…” said growly lead vocalist Liang Yi to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK, “we are very proud that we don’t sound like any of the other Chinese bands.”
Ingo Hauss and Hayo Lewerentz handed back the BOYTRONIC brand to Holger Wobker and returned to being U96, teaming up with former KRAFTWERK percussionist Wolfgang Flür for the best track by either party in recent years. Stark and Teutonic with stark robotic vocoder aesthetics, the union of two German musical heavyweights from different generations was equal to Flür’s ‘Activity Of Sound’ collaboration with Ireland’s iEUROPEAN.
Available on the U96 single ‘Zukunftsmusik’ via UNLTD Recordings
Combining piano, synths, field recordings, drones, occasional beats, old string instruments and HILARY WOODS’ wonderfully forlorn voice in the vein of Julee Cruise, ‘Jesus Said’ questioned the existence of God. Described by the Irish songstress herself as “a song that seeks catharsis”, her child-like expression over the drifting synthesized tones and hypnotic drum machine to augment her beautiful piano playing gave ‘Jesus Said’ a gentle meditative quality.
Available on the HILARY WOODS album ‘Colt’ via Sacred Bones
When is synthwave not synthwave? When it’s synthpop of course and much of the best synthwave is actually pop.
While a lot of synthwave appears to be just formless meandering instrumentals made by gamer boys with a Lamborghini fixation, the majority of the best exponents have been female and tune-based like NINA, MECHA MAIKO and DANA JEAN PHOENIX. Looking to join that roll of honour is ROXI DRIVE, a talented West London born singer / songwriter and actor with a crush on Ryan Gosling who confesses to “Living my Neon dreams one song at a time” and her debut album ‘Strangers Of The Night’ being “A collaboration of pure synth fusion”.
It imagines a world where Madonna Louise Ciccone and Pat Benatar get immersed in the wonders of the synthesizer and doesn’t forget the songs either. Opening number ‘Run All Night (Chase This Dream)’ pulses the night away like a maniac with a neon lit vocal, while the breathy ‘Falling’ recalls the synthpop of THE FRIXION with its various hooks and counter melodies.
The enjoyable ‘Walking Out Of Love’ borrows from the guilty pleasure of classic Italo disco complete with a Moroderesque vo-coda although whether the variable equalisation on the drums is deliberate or not, it makes for a highly frustrating listen. Production quality also blights ‘Call Me Tomorrow?’ which is a delightful ditty that would have sounded even better with a more sympathetic widescreen mix.
The ‘Strangers Of The Night’ titled song verges into AOR like much of the current crop of synthwave and doesn’t work, but much better is the more synthetically charged pop of ‘All Night Long’.
The energetic new wave of ‘Synthicide’ sees a pacier electronic take on ‘Words’ by MISSING PERSONS and might have made it into a John Hughes film if it had been released in 1985, but as it’s a STACEY Q cover, maybe that’s why! Meanwhile ‘See It In Your Eyes’ interludes with a funkier vibe to contrast the album.
‘Behind The Mask’ takes proceedings to a moodier level in a manner not dissimilar to KIRLIAN CAMERA and would go down a treat with the Amphi crowd before ‘Stay With Me’, a marvellous ‘Drive’ influenced ballad with a touch of ELECTRIC YOUTH concludes ‘Strangers Of The Night’.
While a promising and varied record, some of its production is unable to fully exploit the potential of the material, with an inconsistent sound that lacks clarity. Meanwhile, some of the vocal effects are also perhaps too overbearing at times in an attempt to get things heard over the busy backing; seven producers of varying experiences appear to have been credited on the album which could account for this.
While much of this long player could have been more sonically accomplished, what ROXI DRIVE has proved with ‘Strangers Of The Night’ is she can write songs. Coupled with the right studio team, she could be up there in the future with the best of the current crop of independent synth-based artists.
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being “A collaboration of pure synth fusion”.
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