When you have a collaborative project which sees the merging of two of the founding fathers of British Electronica and Synthpop, there is always going to be a huge weight of expectation attached to it.
For many, a joint work between Vince Clarke and one half of ORBITAL’s Paul Hartnoll would be akin to a guitar hook up between Eric Clapton and David Gilmour, such is the importance of both of the producers to the scene(s) that they helped define.
With that opening statement in mind, it is with trepidation that this album should be approached, will it live up to the legend that both Clarke and Hartnoll have created?
Lead single and opening track from ‘2Square’ is ‘Better Have a Drink to Think’, with its Casio calculator bleeps and bass pulse; everything is all very Kraftwerkian until the vocal hook takes the song into Electro Swing territory. There is a very fine line between catchy and annoying, and it’s hard at times to gauge as to which category this track falls into.
‘Zombie Blip’ which follows is a pretty perfunctory synth work-out with predictable stabs and a MAPS inspired breakdown. Probably the kindest thing to say about ‘Zombie Blip’ would be that it could possibly find a home on a computer game soundtrack somewhere. ‘Do-a Bong’ sounds like an ORBITAL pastiche, but with some very unwelcome horns and another irritating vocal. Of all tracks on ‘2Square’, ‘All Out’ has the most commercial possibilities. Very vocal-driven with an underpinning acidic 303, given a decent set of contemporary house remixes, this could conceivably chart…
What is a little unfathomable is why this album, along with the VCMG and MG projects yet again ventures down the faceless Techno route – admittedly ORBITAL were highly respected for their dance / rave anthems ‘Chime’, ‘Belfast’ and ‘The Box’, but they were successful because the tracks hinged around massive riffs and sounds which set them apart from their more Euro-centric peers. There are glimmers of quality here, but much of it comes across as throwaway, the vocals which have been recorded for the project sounding like generic / soul-less library samples.
There is nothing wrong with having splashes of humour in electronic music, both ERASURE with their ABBA tributes and ORBITAL with tracks such as ‘Style’ and live mash-ups of BON JOVI and BELINDA CARLISLE were welcome tongue-in-cheek elements in a genre that often took itself too seriously. However here, the use of brass and the vocals on the novelty Electro Swing tracks don’t seem to sit comfortably with both the ideologies of most of Clarke’s and Hartnoll’s former work.
There are sporadic moments of brilliance; ‘Single Function’ starts off like a ‘Speak & Spell’ era DEPECHE MODE track with ARP electronic percussion, before breaking down to a mournful Jarre-esque string pad and a cyclical Juno chord melody. The closing ‘Underwater’ is beautifully understated, combining a hypnotic TANGERINE DREAM sequencer melody and lead line which easily manages to sustain its five minutes track length.
The two recent JEAN-MICHEL JARRE projects have shown that primarily instrumental synth music can still have a market and ironically Clarke’s ‘Automatic Parts 1 + 2’ on ‘Electronica 1 – The Time Machine’ were head and shoulders above anything here. At least with the title of this project there is an allusion that this isn’t going to be a cutting edge album, but given the incredible skill set and equipment possessed by both contributors, this is a serious disappointment.
CHVRCHES have admirably stuck to the synthpop credentials with which they made their name and last year, delivered what LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, and LADYHAWKE and HURTS all failed to do… a decent second album in ‘Every Open Eye’!
It is an indicator of how far CHVRCHES have developed. Understanding their strengths and taking a less complex approach to their effervescent synthpop, one key move was employing the more electronically tuned Mark ‘Spike’ Stent on the mixing desk, rather than more rock inclined Rich Costey who had looked after the debut ‘The Bones Of What You Believe’. It’s a lesson that a veteran band like DEPECHE MODE could learn from.
Speaking of whom, during the propulsive four-to-the-floor action of ‘Clearest Blue’, the song is wonderfully held in a state of tension before a dynamic surprise in the final third that recalls the classic overtures of Vince Clarke.
Anyone not noticing the aesthetic similarities to The Basildon Boys’ first UK Top 10 hit has stubbornly got their heads in the sands. But does it matter? Well, no! As the highly respected Factory Records biographer James Nice put it in an interview with The Ransom Note recently “I have no problem at all with something new being imitative as long as it’s good”; and ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK totally agrees!
One of the 30 Songs of 2015, the new surreal video for ‘Clearest Blue’, directed by Warren Fu, appears to have a number of symbolic connotations, with front woman Lauren Mayberry looking forlorn in the woods, suited in armour, before eventually shedding that very coat of arms to face her public. It reflects the general feisty mood of the ‘Every Open Eye’ album, with Mayberry emerging as a fighter following playing the victim on CHVRCHES’ debut.
What Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and Lauren Mayberry have managed to do is get teenagers listening to classic synthpop. Hopefully these youngsters will research electronic music’s legacy, which is why historical referencing is so important, to preserve the genre’s roots.
And from that, they will attempt to create their own music. Now that can only be a good thing for the future.
‘Clearest Blue’ is from the album ‘Every Open Eye’ via Virgin Records, available as a CD, deluxe CD with three bonus tracks, vinyl LP and download
CHVRCHES play London’s Royal Albert Hall on Thursday 31st March and Glasgow’s SEE Hydro on Saturday 2nd April 2016
Sweden’s TRAIN TO SPAIN finally released their debut album ‘What It’s All About’ in 2015, having issued music in a variety of different line-ups since 2001.
Named after a lyric from THE HUMAN LEAGUE song ‘The Things That Dreams Are Made Of’, the duo’s first long player was an enjoyably flirtatious affair centred around a crashing metronomic heartbeat reminiscent of PHILIP OAKEY and GIORGIO MORODER’s joint eponymous opus from 1985. Featuring singer Helena Wigeborg and instrumentalist Jonas Rasmusson, the album imagined LANA DEL REY fronting YAZOO, particularly on songs like ‘Keep On Running’, Passion, ‘All About’ and ‘Screw It Up’.
TRAIN TO SPAIN could be perceived as being a bit pop and fluffy, but ‘Grab and Touch’ dealt with the rather serious subject of harassment. But there was also the perky electronic disco of ‘Work Harder’ and best of all, the marvellous Euro stance of ‘Remind Myself’ which enjoyable sounded a bit like TATU without the helium. Overall a promising debut, ‘What It’s All About’ certainly wore its synthpop influences on its sleeve.
Ever keen to move forward and enrich their sound, TRAIN TO SPAIN have now been joined by Lars Netzel who was involving the mixing of ‘What It’s All About’; a musician in his own right under the moniker of NOT LARS, things are set for a new chapter in TRAIN TO SPAIN.
Helena, Jonas and Lars kindly chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the past, present and future of TRAIN TO SPAIN…
How does it feel to finally get release a TRAIN TO SPAIN album?
Jonas: It feels just great that we got a debut album out. It’s been a long but enjoyable journey.
Helena: It feels good! We’ve been working on that first album since September 2013. So to finally get the album in my hands felt like an achievement and I’m very happy with the result.
After you played ‘An Evening With The Swedish Synth’ in London 2014, things went really well and you got signed by a UK label…
Helena: That’s right. We were very lucky that night. It was a night to remember.
Jonas: It was a dream come true.
But the label went under and put TRAIN TO SPAIN in limbo, what were your thoughts at this time?
Helena: Well, to be signed by a label is good of course, but the music industry of today is not like it was, let’s say twenty years ago. There are so many ways of getting your music “out there” and I wasn’t too sad by the loss of our contract to be honest. And not long after we managed to be signed again, this time by Subculture records.
Jonas: I wasn’t that sad, because we had a solid proof that our music belongs out there. And I knew that we sooner or later would be signed to another label.
It gave you an opportunity to rework some of the songs, particularly ‘Passion’?
Helena: Yes that’s right. ‘Passion’ was one of the first songs we wrote, so we thought it could do with facelift.
Jonas: All the songs were in a kind of demo mode. The plan from the beginning was to go back to the studio and record the vocals again.
‘Passion’ is possibly your most immediate song, why did you not go for it as the first single to launch the album?
Helena: ‘Passion’ is a good song, but so are many of our other songs on the album. When we asked people around to get any idea of which song we could chose to be the first single, we got so many different answers that we decided to pick the first song that was recorded, and that was ‘Keep On Running’. It’s a song that means a lot to me.
Jonas: Like Helena said, there were many songs to choose from and at that moment ‘Keep On Running’ was all done.
What did you think of MACHINISTA’s Club Mix of ‘Passion’?
Helena: It’s definitely a good dance remix. It got power and that particular MACHINISTA sound to it.
Jonas: Since I’m a big MACHINISTA fan, I really liked it. It’s a good mix of Helena’s vocals with the sound of MACHINISTA, and it all comes from a song I made.
What influences do each of you bring to TRAIN TO SPAIN?
Helena: I get influenced by what is happening in my life and what is going on in my mind. That is the main reason why I write songs, I need to get the words out. The last couple of years I’ve listened a lot to LANA DEL REY and I like the sadness in her voice.
She is a great storyteller and she sings about her life and her experiences. I like to be true to myself and my lyrics come straight from my heart. When I’m in a flow, the words and the melodies come very easy.
Jonas: When I make the music, it just comes to me. It´s a kind of way to let things out, both happy and sad things.
‘Remind Myself’ is one of the best songs of the album, but which ones are your favourites on ‘What It’s All About’ and why?
Helena: My favourite song on the album is ‘Pressure’. It’s a song that I listen to when I feel lost and stressed, and not knowing where I’m going in life. It’s basically therapy for me.
Jonas: Actually ‘Pressure’ is my favourite song too. But I know that ‘Remind Myself’ is one of the songs from the album that people like the most. That I´ve heard from many different people.
Some of the TRAIN TO SPAIN songs had been around a while and self-production can have the disadvantage of being too inward looking; was it the reason why Lars was brought in to help with the mixing?
Helena: Both me and Jonas are very productive and creative. We are both good at writing new songs and moving forwards. Lars on the other hand has an eye and an ear for details and perfection which is a great addition to the band.
Jonas: Since Helena was not involved in the production of the tracks, only me, I felt I needed someone to open new doors for me. Lars helped with that.
How did his contribution differ compared what you would have done had you’d handled production solely on your own?
Jonas: I would not have been able to do this production solely on my own. The overall quality turned out better.
Lars has now actually joined TRAIN TO SPAIN, so how do you think the band will change?
Helena: On ‘What It’s All About’ Lars was putting his effort into mixing. As a full member, he will be involved from the start with all tracks and most probably write new songs together with me and Jonas, he’s got some interesting pop-tricks up his sleeve.
Lars: Apart from many nerdy synthesizer talks with Jonas… we are in fact writing new tracks together, all three of us.
Jonas: There are only good things about having Lars as a full time member. We complete each other just great.
You have attended Gothenburg’s Electronic Summer 2015 festival recently. What state of health is the Swedish synthpop scene in at the moment? Are there any particular acts you like?
Lars: I love the Electronic Summer (and Winter) festival and we really needed a “bigger” synth event in Sweden after the Arvika festival went out of business a few years ago, so it’s very important for the scene. Apart from that, there are smaller concerts in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Malmö on a regular basis so the scene is alive and well. Personally I think HENRIC DE LA COUR always gives a good show.
Helena: I would say the synth scene is very much alive although the people are getting slightly older… at the moment I like to listen to KITE and HENRIC DE LA COUR. They both have a very unique sound to their music.
Jonas: I’ve never been to the Electronic Summer festival but I think the Swedish synthpop scene is just great, there’s a lot of good acts!! But like ourselves, it’s a subculture and if you’re not into it, you don’t know that it exists. My favourite bands are MACHINISTA, S.P.O.C.K, UNIVERSAL POPLAB and DISCO DIGITALE.
How do you think the Swedish electronic scene compares with the UK one?
Lars: Unfortunately I’m not updated on the UK synth scene at all. I might be wrong, but since the Vince Clarke-dominated scene in the 80s, for me, the UK has been more of a club music nation. Sweden has always had a strong electronic music community. Small but devoted to the 80s and 90s style of EBM and Synthpop. For those genres, Sweden has a great legacy of bands.
Jonas: To be honest before, I didn’t know too much about the UK scene. But since we went to London and played at 93 Feet East, and the fact that radio stations are playing us frequently, I’ve a lot of new Facebook friends who are in bands. And the scene is alive!! But I think they are struggling with the same problem as us, it´s a subculture. And since Sweden is one of the biggest music export countries, it’s hard to find a way out if you’re not signed to one of the major labels.
What next for TRAIN TO SPAIN? Perhaps some jazz influences? 😉
Helena: Jazz is in my blood, but synthpop is in my heart. I like to continue doing what we are doing, but I like to challenge my voice and what people expect from us. TRAIN TO SPAIN will definitely surprise you in a good way in the future. The plan is to release an EP in the first half of 2016, and we’re right in the middle of doing it. Next up is to record a video for our upcoming single.
Lars: Jazz huh? The first instrument I played was actually the saxophone and can really appreciate a good old JOHN COLTRANE track over a nice cocktail, but it’s doesn’t sound like a Roland TR-707 with gated reverb, does it? 😉
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to TRAIN TO SPAIN
In a far more productive year than 2014, many electronic music veterans returned to the fold in 2015 with their first new albums for many years. There were plenty of releases from independent acts too, with Nordic Europe being a particularly strong territory once again.
Nearly 40 quality songs made the shortlist and were eventually whittled down to 30. So mention must be made of ALICE IN VIDEOLAND, ANALOG ANGEL, BEBORN BETON, BECKY BECKY, CLUB 8, ELECTROGENIC, ME THE TIGER and SIN COS TAN who all released recordings in 2015 that would have easily made the listing in less competitive years such as 2012 and 2014.
So the decision has been made; with a restriction of one song per artist moniker, this alphabetical list comprises tracks released in physical formats, or digitally as purchasable or free downloads during the calendar year. Here are ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s 30 SONGS OF 2015…
A-HA She’s Humming A Tune
Despite splittinhg in 2010, A-HA reunited in a relaxed manner that recalled their days as a fledgling band. On ‘She’s Humming A Tune’, there were hints of 1986’s ‘Scoundrel Days’ in a lower key with sweeping synths, bottle neck six string and live drums moulding the chilling soundscape with that exquisite Nordic allure. ‘Cast In Steel’ was the antithesis of the misguided EDM blow-out that DURAN DURAN attempted on ‘Paper Gods’.
Available on the album ‘Cast In Steel’ via Universal Music
Feeling gloomy? Then take heed to BLACK NAIL CABARET and “Don’t be sad! Don’t be whiney!” – this brooding slice of Gothtronica was the lead single from the Hungarian duo’s second album ‘Harry Me, Marry Me, Bury Me’. Laden with a delicious synth bassline like DEPECHE MODE reimagined for a Weimar Cabaret set piece and topped with eerie string machine, ‘Satisfaction’ was the duo’s best individual offering to date.
Available on the album ‘Harry Me, Marry Me, Bury Me’ via Basic Unit Productions
From Neil Arthur’s first BLANCMANGE album without long time bandmate Stephen Luscombe, ‘Useless’ was a brilliant hybrid of Eno circa ‘Here Come The Warm Jets’ with LCD SOUNDSYSTEM. “It’s about anyone who thinks they might be useless” said Arthur, “This song is about that whole idea that we’re all flawed and you’re ‘useless as you are’… there are just times when you think ‘f*cking hell, I couldn’t organise a p*ss up in a brewery’ or that whole thing about confidence”.
Available on the album ‘Semi Detached’ via Cherry Red Records
Although launch single ‘Shine’ indicated it was business as usual, as hinted at with the title, CAMOUFLAGE’s long awaited long player ‘Greyscale’ was their most mature artistic statement yet. The mellow and warm ‘Count On Me’ saw Marcus Meyn duet with Peter Heppner of WOLFSHEIM fame. The lush blend of vocals and atmospherics showcased two of Germany’s most highly regarded electronic acts at their best.
CHVRCHES delivered what LITTLE BOOTS, LA ROUX, LADYHAWKE and HURTS failed to do… a decent second album! The propulsive four-to-the-floor action of ‘Clearest Blue’ shows how far CHVRCHES developed. Not unlike an amalgam of ‘Gun’ and ‘Science / Visions’, ‘Clearest Blue’ is more accomplished, wonderfully held in a state of tension before WHACK, there’s a dynamic surprise that recalls the classic overtures of Vince Clarke.
Available on the album ‘Every Open Eye’ via Virgin Records
Rodney Cromwell is Adam Cresswell, formally of ARTHUR & MARTHA. ‘Black Dog’ recalled the pulsing post-punk miserablism of SECTION 25 and embellished by some Hooky styled bass. Cresswell said: “It’s all broadly linked to experiences in my life over the last ten years; themes of love, loss, depression, redemption”. As with NEW ORDER’s ‘Temptation’, despite the melancholy, there was light at the end of the tunnel that made ‘Black Dog’ a most joyous listening experience.
Available on the album ‘Age Of Anxiety’ via Happy Robots
Utilising her Italian heritage, DAYBEHAVIOR’s lead singer Paulinda Crescentini gave a suitably alluring performance on ‘Cambiare’, the B-side of the Swedish trio’s single ‘Change’. Remixed to poptastic effect, the joyous yet melancholic tune took the best elements of Italo disco that recalled imperial phase PET SHOP BOYS. With a catchy chorus and seductive topline, Linguaphone language lessons were never this much fun…
An offshoot of Swedish EBM veterans SPETSNAZ, DESTIN FRAGILE are a very different animal with hints of CAMOUFLAGE and DEPECHE MODE in their sound. ‘Run Away’ opened their ‘Halfway To Nowhere’ opus, an album which some observers have hailed as one of the best of 2015. Featuring a fine vocal from Pontus Stålberg resembling MESH’s Mark Hockings, this is what modern synthpop should be like; pop music with synths and melody as well as dynamic synth solos.
Available on the album ‘Halfway To Nowhere’ via Dark Dimensions
After the success of 2011’s ‘All You Need Is Now’ album, DURAN DURAN again stole defeat from the jaws of victory with the gloriously under par ‘Paper Gods’ with the excruciatingly painful dance anthem ‘Last Night In The City’ being a particular low point. However, at least they proved they still had it with ‘Face For Today’, a catchy synth laden number in the vein of the classic DURAN DURAN people knew and loved.
Available on the album’Paper Gods’ via Warner Bros Records
EAST INDIA YOUTH’s debut ‘Total Strife’ pointed towards William Doyle’s potential to pen sublime pop, and with the follow-up ‘Culture Of Volume’, this was more than realised. ‘Carousel’ reimagined OMD’s ‘Stanlow’ reworked during Brian Eno’s sessions for ‘Apollo: Soundtracks & Atmospheres’. With no percussive elements and over six minutes in length, Doyle gave a dramatic vocal performance resonating in beautifully crystalline melancholy.
Available on the album ‘Culture of Volume’ via XL Recordings
Berlin-based Emika is one of the dark horses of the UK electronic scene. A combination of her classical training, Czech heritage and use of modern technology has made for a provoking, brooding sound that has attained critical acclaim. From her third album, helpfully named ‘Drei’, ‘My Heart Bleeds Melody’ was its highlight, a concoction of intricate pulsing layers and solemn detachment that provided a captivating listening experience.
FFS proved collaborations do work. A total triumph, ‘P*ss Off’ was possibly the album’s most outstanding number. With the vibrancy of ‘Kimono My House’ and ‘Propaganda’ era SPARKS, there were plenty of jaunty ivories and camp vocal theatrics in the vein of classics like ‘Something For The Girl With Everything’ and ‘BC’. “It’s inexplicable” they all growled as the multi-track phrase of “HARMONISE” kicked in! A total joy, ‘P*ss Off’ was the ultimate two fingered art school pop anthem.
A highlight in Herr Flür’s DJ sets has been The Ninjaneer Mix of ‘Cover Girl’, a swirling track that the former KRAFTWERK percussionist described as ‘The Model MkII’. He said: “Her story goes on and unfortunately shows her going downhill. She had bad experiences with drugs, alcohol and other things so had to dance in night clubs for earning money at least. A true story, a bad life… that’s sometimes the way how super models are knitting their career”
Available on the album ‘Eloquence’ via Cherry Red Records
John Grant’s adventure into a solemn electronic template on ‘Pale Green Ghosts’ won him a BRIT Award nomination too. His collaboration with HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR showed he understood disco. ‘Disappointing’ combined the two approaches and added funk for an enjoyable Bowie meets YAZOO styled workout. In a song full of surprises, not only was there slap bass, but there was the dulcet tones of Tracey Thorn too.
Available on the album ‘Grey Tickles, Black Pressure’ via Bella Union
Gwenno’s Welsh and Cornish heritage has allowed her to develop a unique brand of lo-fi electronica. Since her full-length Welsh language debut ‘Y Dydd Olaf’ was reissued in 2015, Gwenno has deservedly gained an increased profile for her music. With beautiful, traditionally derived melodies placed in a spacey yesterday’s tomorrow setting, the spacey ‘Calon Peiriant’ was one of the more immediate delights from a wonderful album.
Available on the album ‘Y Dydd Olaf’ via Heavenly Recordings
Depression despite apparent material success has been an ongoing lyrical theme for Chris Corner as IAMX. And with ‘Happiness’, his craving for a mind to be free of bad news, negative influences and jealousy was countered with his line of “Everywhere hypocrisy!” as pulsing arpeggios kicked in for the final third’s gentle but drama laden climax. Highly poignant in the current economic and political climate, Corner’s move from Berlin to Los Angeles certainly did his music no harm.
Available on the album ‘Metanoia’ via Caroline International
JEAN-MICHEL JARRE & VINCE CLARKE Automatic Parts 1 + 2
The French synth maestro’s first album for since 2007 was an opus entitled ‘Electronica 1 – The Time Machine’ featuring TANGERINE DREAM, AIR and MASSIVE ATTACK among many. But the two part ‘Automatic’ with Vince Clarke was the highlight, taking in the best of the tune based elements of both artists while not letting one party dominate. VCJMJ was more artistically realised than the polarising techno of VCMG!
Available on the album ‘Electronica 1: The Time Machine’ via Columbia Records
“Whether I release it in 2013 or 2016, it’s still going to sound like 1985!” said KID KASIO main man Nathan Cooper. Plainly honest about where his influences lie, his love of classic synthpop permeates throughout his work. Now imagine if DEPECHE MODE was fronted by Nik Kershaw instead of Dave Gahan? With ‘Full Moon Blue’, that musical fantasy became realised with a clever interpolation of ‘Two Minute Warning’, one of Alan Wilder’s compositions on ‘Construction Time Again’.
Despite having been around since 2008, Swedish synth duo KITE have tended to be overlooked internationally. But the duo’s wonderfully exuberant array of sounds and rugged, majestic vocals deserve a much larger audience. Issuing only EPs, KITE’s most recent release ‘VI’ opened with the magnificent progressive electronic epic ‘Up For Life’. The passionate and sublime first half mutated into a beautifully surreal journey of Vangelis-like proportions for the second.
The syncopated electro disco feel of ‘The Bombs’ from MACHINISTA’s second album came almost by accident. Instrumentalist Richard Flow remembered: “Actually the first version of ‘The Bombs’ had a completely different rhythm in the drums… I wasn’t happy at all about the music. Once I did change the bass drum to a simple 4/4, I was back on track again. So perhaps a simple 4/4 bass drum mixed with the sounds for this original rhythm created this ‘disco’ feel…”
Available on the album ‘Garmonbozia’ via Analogue Trash Records
A worthy of re-assessment of DEPECHE MODE ‘A Broken Frame’ has been long overdue and MARSHEAUX have certainly given a number of its songs some interesting arrangements. Their version of ‘Monument’ borrowed its bassline from latter day DM B-side ‘Painkiller’. Combined with some wispily resigned vocals, it provided a tense soundtrack that could be seen as metaphoric commentary on the economic situation in Greece.
Available on the album ‘A Broken Frame’ via Undo Records
METROLAND’s second album ‘Triadic Ballet’ was a triumphant celebration of the Bauhaus art movement led by Walter Gropius. He had theorized about uniting art and technology and on the B-side of the single ‘Zeppelin’, METROLAND worked towards the 21st Century interpretation of that goal. Now imagine if Gary Numan had actually joined KRAFTWERK in 1979? Then the brilliantly uptempo ‘(We Need) Machines Without Romance’ would have been the result.
After the last few guitar dominated NEW ORDER albums, Bernard Sumner promised a return to electronic music for the first album of new material without estranged founder member and bassist Peter Hook. That was certainly delivered on with ‘Plastic’, a full-on throbbing seven minute electro number mixed by Richard X with blippy echoes of ‘Mr Disco’. Dealing with the issue of superficiality, it declares “this love is poison, but it’s like gold”… yes, beware of anything plastic and artificial!
Available on the album ‘Music Complete’ via Mute Artists
In 2015, the Norge domiciled Swedish songstress’ Karin Park finally released her fifth album, the profanity laden fifth ‘Apocalypse Pop’. While less harsh in sound to some of the other tracks on the long player, ‘Stick To The Lie’ was no less angry. The most overtly synthpop track on the collection, this accessible yet emotive song was one of the highlights on a collection that affirmed her place in modern electronic pop.
Available on the album ‘Apocalypse Pop’ via State Of The Eye
With CHVRCHES taking PURITY RING’s template and pushing it into the mainstream, the Edmonton duo’s sophomore album ‘Another Eternity’ was going to be watched with interest. Certainly it was more focussed than its predecessor ‘Shrines’. Still utilising glitch techniques, booming bass drops and Corin Roddick’s rattling drum machine programming, the album’s best song ‘Begin Again’ made the most of Megan James’ sweet and dreamy voice.
Available on the album ‘Another Eternity’ via 4AD Records
Sweden’s SISTA MANNEN PÅ JORDEN are led by Eddie Bengtsson of S.P.O.C.K and PAGE fame. The themes of space travel and Sci-Fi are regular lyrical gists and while all of SMPJ’s songs are voiced i Svenska, Bengtsson opened up his Vince Clarke influenced synthpop to the English language in 2015 with the ‘Translate’ EP. Brilliantly produced, ‘All The City Lights’ (a version of ‘Stadens Alla Ljus’) was its highly enjoyable opening gambit.
Susanne Sundfør’s ‘Ten Love Songs’ album developed on the electronic focus of its predecessor ‘The Silicone Veil’. With an eerie, droning intro with echoes of THE WALKERS BROTHERS’ ‘The Electrician’, ‘Delirious’ thundered with fierce electronics bolstered by dynamic orchestrations like THE KNIFE meeting DEPECHE MODE. It captured love as a reluctant battle of the emotions as she declared “I’m not the one holding the gun”.
Available on the album ‘Ten Love Songs’ via Sonnet Sound
TRAIN TO SPAIN’s energetic pop utilises classic synthesizer sounds in the vein of Vince Clarke coupled to a metronomic rhythm structure akin to the 1985 ‘Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’ album. Like Lana Del Rey fronting YAZOO, Wigeborg’s cooingly vocals on ‘Passion’ let rip over a suitably complimentary electronic backbone. The superb remix by MACHINISTA added some gothic disco goodness.
Available on the download single ‘Keep On Running’ via Sub Culture Records
Manchester based Ross Tregenza co-wrote ‘Diaries Of A Madman’ with Dave Formula and Steve Strange when he was a member of VISAGE II in 2007. He surprised electronic music audiences with a Spartan cover of ‘The Partisan’, a song made famous by Leonard Cohen. While many may despair at the mention of the droll Canadian, his work has strong parallels with many Gothic veined musical forms, especially with this harrowing tale of fighting for La Résistance.
Available on the album ‘Into The Void’ via Tregenza Music
On VILE ELECTRODES’ mesmerising ‘Captive in Symmetry’, “Filmic” is indeed a very apt description with the booming synth bass motif possessing echoes of the ‘Twin Peaks’ theme ‘Falling’. As beautiful sequences, eerie strings and Anais Neon’s hauntingly alluring vocals take hold, it all comes over like a dreamboat collaboration between Julee Cruise and OMD that could be used in the revamp of the surreal North American drama.
Available on the EP ‘Captive In Symmetry’ via Vile Electrodes
One man synth operation SUDDEN CREATION aka Chris Mines deserves an award or a straitjacket or something!
After several years of video previews and gigs showcasing his satirical but very musical songs, the Cambridgeshire based singer/songwriter has finally delivered his debut album, ‘Synth Boys Don’t Smile’. Long standing synthpop fans will also have fun listening out for geeky reference points and in-jokes. And while Mines might not be the greatest singer in the world, his delivery is sharp and honest while his lyrics make great stories, even without the music.
The actual ‘Synth Boys Don’t Smile’ title track is a joy, sending up the likes of Vince Clarke, Dave Ball, Stephen Luscombe, Chris Lowe and Ron Mael. Those with man buns and a preference for hipster hosiery need not apply… and that could be the title of a SUDDEN CREATION song in itself!
Of course, the stoney faced ERASURE and YAZOO synth maestro was the subject of one of the first SUDDEN CREATION songs to have been previewed back in 2013. ‘I Never Met Vince Clarke’ is an amusing tale of managing to meet all your heroes, except that elusive one. “Every time I’ve tried to meet Vince I have missed him…” says Mines, “And to clarify, yes I have met everyone else mentioned in the song, but no, I still haven’t met Vince …”
Lazy journalists, bloggers and ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK are the target on the highly amusing ‘Shouldn’t I Be A Girl?’ while remaining with the fairer gender, ‘The Girl Rocks’ is those rarest of things, a synthpop number using the blues scale!
Inspired respectively by MORRISSEY and MANIC STREET PREACHERS, ‘Repellent Me’ and ‘Electric Light’ explore some conventional musical avenues despite the use of synths, while also sending up the forthright miserablist overtures of the two.
Of the former, Mines says: “When someone like Morrissey makes a comment like ‘There’s nothing more repellent than a synthesizer’, it’s a bit like a red rag to a bull to me… the lyric is definitely taking comments he has made in several interviews and turning them around and firing them back at him …”
The amusing mid-life crisis referencing ‘Fat Forty & Fashion-Free’ explores the plight of older musicians in a music industry obsessed with the young, the thin and the trendy… with most artists performing synthpop being enclosed in this mature category, this most frustrating but real scenario will strike home. But it’s not all tomfoolery and high jinks on this diverse observational collection of synthpop, as the closing numbers ‘Goodnight God Bless Goodbye’ and ‘It Is What It Is’ both testify. Inspired by loss and grief, despite the mournfulness, they are melodic and hopeful. Funny, technostalgic, deadpan and tragic, all within a space of 45 minutes… yes, ‘Synth Boys Don’t Smile’ but you possibly will!
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It doesn’t have to be like that…
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; a musician in his own right under the moniker of 
, his craving for a mind to be free of bad news, negative influences and jealousy was countered with his line of “Everywhere hypocrisy!” as pulsing arpeggios kicked in for the final third’s gentle but drama laden climax. Highly poignant in the current economic and political climate, Corner’s move from Berlin to Los Angeles certainly did his music no harm.
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