Category: Reviews (Page 29 of 199)

xPROPAGANDA The Heart Is Strange

16 May 2022 /

The legend of German quartet PROPAGANDA was etched into the psyche of the music cognoscenti with the 1985 release of ‘A Secret Wish’ on ZTT, a classic of the electronic era which heralded the advent of sampling and digital synthesis.

Among its fans were Martin Gore, John Taylor and Jim Kerr; over the years, ‘A Secret Wish’ has grown in stature with its influence felt on Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’, produced by Quincy Jones. Meanwhile, the foursome of Claudia Brücken, Susanne Freytag, Ralf Dörper and Michael Mertens dubbed “ABBA in hell” were a forerunner of acts such as LADYTRON.

But it all ended acrimoniously and despite attempts to reform PROPAGANDA over the last 30 years, they have all come to nought, although the quartet performed together at the Trevor Horn celebratory concert for The Prince’s Trust in 2004, while Freytag and Dörper joined Brücken for her career retrospective show at The Scala in 2011.

More recently, Brücken and Freytag have teamed up with Stephen J Lipson, producer of ‘A Secret Wish’ and had introduced their new project as D:UEL – so it was a surprise when it was announced that the pair would be playing two London shows performing ‘A Secret Wish’ as xPROPAGANDA in 2018.

‘The Heart Is Strange’ is the first fruit of labour from xPROPAGANDA; with that classic widescreen Lipson sound, the impressive opener ‘The Night’ does not disappoint with a dancey cacophony of sequenced digitised bass, crashing beats and sweeping synthetic strings. Additional brass flourishes, orchestrated bursts and percolating percussive colours permeate over multi-minute intro before Claudia Brücken delivers a fabulous vocal.

The spacious metronomic template of ‘Chasing Utopia’ hypnotically builds with the addition of guitars from the pleasuredome and snappy live drums as Susanne Freytag provides a spoken harmony next to Brücken before an alluring German monologue and a flugelhorn solo. Although tapping with rimshot before packing a punch, ‘Beauty Is The Truth’ is more aggressive with Freytag sparring with Brücken as their contrasting styles provide the tension over the buzzy trance-laden air.

‘Only Human’ is less pacey, crossing six string strums with electronics, acting almost as a mid-album breather. However, ‘Don’t (You Mess with Me)’ provides a synthetic rock edge and a piano motif that could have come straight from the Gary Numan playbook but the end result actually comes over like ABBA although not quite in hell but more a jungle full of tigers. With an exotic swirl ‘No Ordinary Girl’ heads towards the Mystical East and is bolstered by some heavy guitar and choppy strings plus a reference to the past with a knowing “Don’t be a fool!”

A warning on the rise of the extreme right wing using Brothers Grimm imagery, ‘The Wolves Are Returning’ is back to classic Lipson. It’s a bouncy driving number with another superb vocal from Brücken, an enticing middle eight phrase from Freytag and a magnificent sax solo from Terry Edwards, processed to the point of sounding like a guitar. Over 9 minutes, the cinematic closer ‘Ribbons of Steel’ provides a fitting atmospheric backdrop to showcase Susanne Freytag’s poetry. With references to The Cold War that are equally applicable to today’s world events, it’s a starker 21st Century follow-up to ‘Dream Within A Dream’ declaring “I never heard The Division Bell… I’m trapped on the wrong side, or is it the right side”.

As Brücken and Freytag summarised: “We always thought it was a shame that an album as distinctive and acclaimed as ‘A Secret Wish’ seemed destined to be a one-off. It certainly meant a lot to us, and it never seemed right that the story stopped there. Working again with Stephen Lipson and means that we can turn our dreams about what the ZTT follow up to ‘A Secret Wish’ would sound like into a reality. The reality is ‘The Heart is Strange’”.

While the distinct pop approach of ‘The Heart Is Strange’ perhaps is missing the gothic industrial spike of Ralf Dörper and the classically schooled eccentricity of Michael Mertens that added some of the character to ‘A Secret Wish’, where it does not disappoint is vocally and sonically; fans of PROPAGANDA and ZTT will relish and savour this thoughtfully crafted work.

Surpassing both the Brücken-less PROPAGANDA long player ‘1234’ and ACT’s ‘Laughter, Tears & Rage’, ‘The Heart Is Strange’ can be considered a worthy follow-up to ‘A Secret Wish’.

‘The Heart is Strange’ is released by ZTT on 20th May 2022 as in CD, 2CD, vinyl LP, red vinyl LP, Bluray audio and digital formats

xPROPAGANDA perform at The Garage in London on 24th May 2022

The ‘Secretstrange’ 2022 tour of Germany includes:
Berlin Columbia Theater (2nd November), München Schlachthof (4th November), Frankfurt Nachtleben (5th November), Bochum Zeche (6th November), Hamburg Kent Club (8th November)

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Jimmy King
15th May 2022

DUBSTAR Two

6 May 2022 /

‘Two’ is the second album from DUBSTAR since Sarah Blackwood and Chris Wilkie reunited as a duo.

After several false starts, 2018’s six string slanted long player ‘One’ co-produced by Youth was a welcome return for DUBSTAR, but the impression was that Blackwood and Wilkie were just warming up.

Working with Stephen Hague acting as producer and an unofficial third member, DUBSTAR have returned to the electronic driven sound of their debut long player ‘Disgraceful’ and as a result, have recorded some of the best work of their career on ‘Two’.

Hague had co-produced ‘Disgraceful’ which spawned the hits ‘Not So Manic Now’, ‘Stars’, ‘Anywhere’ and ‘Elevator Song’, providing a musical bridge between Britpop and Synth Britannia. Largely recorded in the face of adversity during lockdown in a “pass the parcel” manner, Wilkie confirmed “Dilemmas and experiments which would normally consume an afternoon can take a week, when you’re recording remotely”.  The necessary social distancing dictated the instrumentation as he added “We found ourselves naturally gravitating to our electronic side over the pandemic, because it lends itself more practically to remote production. We couldn’t sit around jamming with guitars or experimenting together in real time”.

Opener ‘Token’ immediately points to Hague’s productions for PET SHOP BOYS and ERASURE, a song about leaving behind abusive relationships and minor gestures, a topic that many can relate to. Full of resilience, it is possibly Sarah Blackwood and Chris Wilkie’s most overt synthpop statement yet. The anxious electronic disco of ‘I Can See You Outside’ evokes an unlikely liaison between Christine McVie and Giorgio Moroder in an exhilarating ride “beyond the fault lines”; it all hits the zeitgeist in a brave new world of unease, confusion, conspiracy and sadness.

Continuing with the seismologic analogies, ‘Tectonic Plates’ focusses on friction over a neo-baggy beat, with Wilkie bursting with rhythm guitar reminiscent of DUBSTAR’s former Food labelmates BLUR on their first hit ‘There’s No Other Way’, although the array of catchy synth riffs alongside are irresistible.

Going more downtempo, the moody ‘Lighthouse’ harks back to the days of Britpop with guitar inflections and a rousing chorus while the charming piano focussed ballad ‘Tears’ is supplemented by a virtual string section before a simultaneously sparkling and rugged combination of COCTEAU TWINS and SIMPLE MINDS comes in the middle eight.

Inspired by socially-distanced queuing at the height of the lockdown, ‘Hygiene Strip’ is wonderfully classic DUBSTAR characterised by Blackwood’s forlorn vocal presence but there is also the subtle lifting air of PET SHOP BOYS looming to offer hope a haze of melancholy.

Pacing up to an offbeat, ‘Blood’ again echoes BLUR and a snatch of XTC but is shaped by a more student indie aesthetic, while ‘Social Proof’ strums along as a stern Blackwood announces “I’ll tell you something…”

With Sarah Blackwood hitting some lovely high notes, the bittersweet ‘Kissing To Be Unkind’ reflects on former friends who turn unnecessary nasty while presenting a misleading friendly persona, and all because “Losing the hand has made you hard to please”. Ending with a haunting cover of REM’s ‘Perfect Circle’ and its absorbing piano from Stephen Hague, it goes full circle with the Portland-born producer’s past as he had worked with Michael Stipe & Co on the demo version of ‘Catapult’ in 1982, a song which sat later next to ‘Perfect Circle’ on the Athens GA quartet’s debut album ‘Murmur’.

Satisfying both their Synth Britannia and Britpop rooted fanbase, thanks to the return of Stephen Hague in the producer’s chair and displaying a common musical affinity, DUBSTAR have provided their spiritual follow-up to ‘Disgraceful’ in ‘Two’. The kitchen sink dramas continue with the usual cups of tea, so know these songs and sing them.

‘Two’ is released by Northern Writes in CD, 2CD, clear or black vinyl LP and digital formats, available from https://dubstar.tmstor.es

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Dom Foster
6th May 2022

SOFT CELL *Happiness Not Included

4 May 2022 /

Coinciding with their live farewell at London’s O2 Arena in 2018, SOFT CELL surprised their fans with two new songs ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘Guilty (Cos I Say You Are)’ on an updated compilation ‘Keychains & Snowstorms – The Singles’.

What was planned to be the end became a brand new start as Marc Almond and Dave Ball embarked on a UK tour in 2021 to celebrate 40 years of their brilliant debut album ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’. The show also included a preview of material from a new album for 2022 entitled ‘*Happiness Not Included’, their first since the 2002 reunion long player ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’.

Co-produced by Phillip Larsen whose credits include Andy Bell, Moby, Mylène Farmer, Claudia Brücken, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue, ‘*Happiness Not Included’ is an introspective collection of 12 new songs that mourn the passage of time, missed opportunities and life not going as planned.

Recorded remotely under the spectre of the global pandemic, ‘*Happiness Not Included’ features “Science fiction stories for the 21st century” according to Dave Ball. The cinematic drama of the not-so ‘Happy Happy Happy’ opens and sees Almond as the humble narrator expressing his strained frustrations about “state assisted dying” while Ball realises his John Barry ambitions with a series of synth string sweeps in a stylistic ident that recurs throughout this album.

“Lost in the junkie jungle”, the machine disco of ‘Polaroid’ recounts SOFT CELL’s love of The Factory pop art scene and a bittersweet meeting with Andy Warhol in 1982. Featuring speech samples from the man himself and his enclave, it is also a metaphor for life that accepts that once the end comes, one of few things that remain are photographs.

A relative of ‘Guilty (Cos I Say You Are)’, ‘Bruises On My Illusions’ covers the familiar SOFT CELL topics of pain, self-loathing and misanthropy with a sharp energy complemented by Almond’s vocal theatrics that are more convincing than on ‘Heart Like Chernobyl’, although that song’s stark Cold War lyrical analogies on the morally toxic world of today have added poignancy given recent world events. Not included on the album, the excellent B-side ‘Vapourise’ with its references to “a nuclear explosion” and “a full-on attack” proves to be even more chilling…

The catchy ‘Purple Zone’ is a slice of soaring melancholic Europop with immediate reminiscences of PET SHOP BOYS in particular.

So it is not entirely surprising that Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe make a guest appearance and plant their aesthetic, although it must be pointed out that this is a SOFT CELL composition, characterised by Almond’s darkly doomed expressionism about midlife.

A union of The Blackpool Electro Mafia as well as featuring the voices of both Almond and Tennant, ‘Purple Zone’ goes full circle as after SOFT CELL first imploded in 1984, it was PET SHOP BOYS who ran with their baton after smoothing off some of the rough edges.

Taking proceedings down a notch, the wonderful ‘Light Sleepers’ presents a glorious orchestrated ballad arranged by Ball with soprano sax from Gary Barnacle that provides a backdrop for Almond’s nocturnal demeanour that acts as sedative relief. With a sense of foreboding on the album’s title song because “the future is in a lunatic’s hands”, Dave Ball plays on more of his John Barry spy drama fantasies with virtual harpsicord over a metronomic drum machine, aided by soulful male voices and flourishes of flute.

Meanwhile, the tense Italo Noir of the ironically titled ‘Nostalgia Machine’ gets some choppy rhythm guitar and pentatonic phrasing thrown in for an album highlight that revs up proceedings with a touch of exuberant swagger.

Originally a Dave Ball instrumental issued as part of a single and CD that came with the boxed set of his autobiography ‘Electronic Boy’ and now featuring a deranged expletive laden rap from American drag performance artist Christeene, the tense industrialised pulse of ‘Nighthawks’ recalls the sweaty alternative club overtures of one-time Some Bizzare stable mates CABARET VOLTAIRE. Cellmates are even treated to the deep growly voice of Mr Ball himself repeating the title and ‘Staying Alive’ refrains from backing vocalists Bryan Chambers, Louise Marshall and Simon King.

The eerie vibraphone-laden swing of ‘I’m Not A Friend Of God’ is a 21st Century ‘Blasphemous Rumours’; in the face of a future with a scary face, Almond decides that “the young can deal with it instead”. Reflecting Almond’s past solo work, ‘Tranquiliser’ could be Gene Pitney with a widescreen orchestral palette counterpointed by a solemn narrative on dependency.

Ending with the grand six minute plus ballad ‘New Eden’ where “being young is not an option”, Ball’s gentle piano structure echoes Eno and his ‘On Some Faraway Beach’, before building towards its close with subtle electronics, complimentary strings and a choir. “All those plans we made in the ‘60s seem naïve now we’ve grown older” laments an impassioned Almond; now closer to the end than the beginning, this is a declaration of hope, that things can still be fine.

“In this album I wanted to look at us as a society: a place where we have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality and decency, food before the rights of animals, fanaticism before fairness and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others” said Almond of ‘*Happiness Not Included’, “But in the album there is also a belief that there is a utopia if we can peel back the layers and understand what really matters”.

While the album has flaws with a few of the tracks sounding underdeveloped, there are a significant number of cracking songs that make this second reunion of SOFT CELL worthwhile.

You’ve been to the shows, got the T-shirt, bought the books and heard the singles but now it is time to listen to the album; in this modern compilation era of playlists, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has compiled its own highly enjoyable classic 10 track version of ‘*Happiness Not Included’ from the 13 songs in the pool, you might consider doing the same.

‘*Happiness Not Included’ is released on 6th May 2022 via BMG in various formats including yellow coloured vinyl LP, picture disc LP, CD, cassette and download, pre-order now avaiable from https://softcell.tmstor.es/

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
4th May 2022

I AM SNOW ANGEL Lost World

3 May 2022 /


Singer, producer and sound designer Julie Kathryn reflects on a new life in a ‘Lost World’ for her latest body of work as I AM SNOW ANGEL.

Having relocated to the Hudson Valley with her infant son, her mind wandered as she dealt with the world’s pandemic sorrow by immersing herself in creativity at night.

Collaborating remotely with studio veteran Charles Newman whose credits have included THE MAGNETIC FIELDS and musician / composer JJ Appleton, the end result is a collection of dreamy pop with a narrative of reflection in isolation.

Beginning with ‘You’ve Been Telling Lies’, it is the sort of song that I AM SNOW ANGEL does best, quietly subversive with strange swooping sounds and faint pitched up voice samples applied to traditional song elements for something unusual.

The uptempo ‘Twisted Romance’ combines synths and ringing six string which are immediately appealing while coming over like a feminine U2, the deeper percussive resonances of the ‘Lost World’ title concoct a mood as suggested by the title and this is taken further with the spacey dub-inflected remix by David Sisko which comes as a bonus.

In a song about her son written while in quarantine, the trip-hop influenced ‘Sweet As You’ uses a minimal distorted Telecaster line as the constant while a range of textures and atmospheres work around it in an optimistic glimmer, but at the opposite end of the spectrum, the breathy ‘Tom’ is a bittersweet lament reflecting on a former beau in an impressionistic manner like a hazy awakening from a dream-afflicted sleep.

The understated pulsations of ‘Quiet & Bright’ make it sound like Karen Carpenter piloting an interplanetary craft on a trip that is both soothing and assuring. Developing the template further, ‘Bright Pink Skies’ possesses a cerebral quality with gentle vocally derived pads circulating for a lush cinematic cacophony.

The album ends with ‘Kaleidoscope’ brings a helping of hope on an acoustic six string love ballad where “everything seems so easy with you”.

Despite the melancholy and thoughts of hopelessness, ‘Lost World’ actually has gently sanguine quality about it.

Dreamy, comforting and exuding colour, this record demonstrates that in difficult times, inspiration and resourcefulness can triumph over pain and uncertainty.

‘Lost World’ is released on 6th May 2022, pre-save via https://onerpm.link/932079050122

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Carl Timpone
3rd May 2022

DESIRE Escape

30 April 2022 /

‘Escape’ is the long awaited follow-up to the acclaimed debut album by DESIRE which was released in 2009. One of its tracks ‘Under Your Spell’ notably featured in the synthwave-tinged soundtrack of 2011’s ‘Drive’ starring Ryan Gosling.

Originally from Montreal, vivacious latex-clad front woman Megan Louise hasn’t been idle, continually releasing singles, collaborating and becoming president of Italians Do It Better. Produced by IDIB head honcho and beau Johnny Jewel, ‘Escape’ was mixed by Vaughn Oliver. Inspired by Italian Giallo horror films, the record was constructed in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.

‘Escape’ is multilingual singing in English, French, and Korean while Megan Louise plays the role of vixen and villain, opening proceedings with ‘Black Latex’, a spoken word art piece in French and English inspired by Andy Warhol. With pizzicato interventions and glorious synth salvos, ‘Telling Me Lies’ does that alluring moonlit driving thing over a tom-laden drum machine backbone where “you can run but you can’t hide”.

“All out of trying, all out of tears” while swathed in layers of electronic sounds and a wash of emotions, ‘Liquid Dreams’ echoes one-time label mates CHROMATICS and is boosted by a great frequency tuning solo. But featuring current label mates MIRAGE, ‘Love Is A Crime’ begins with an enigmatic and semi-spoken verse which is countered by a vocodered chorus. There are dense filtered tapestries where the processed voice declares “there’s no-one left to hold you” before the nostalgic tones of dial-up internet ring.

The wonderful ‘Zeros’ which was first released in early 2021 remains gorgeously dreamy and seductive with its sunset noir cinematics burying the past and “adding up to zero every single day”. Short, sweet and sans batterie, more spoken word is presented on the sparsely vibe laden ‘Dark Age’.

With elegant airy movements in Korean from ETHER’s Soo Joo Park, the forlorn ‘Haenim’ is an electronically styled cover of the 1968 Kim Jung Mi folk song with its narrative about woman who carries a traumas from the past confirming that “some scars never heal”; the haunting synth noir reinterpretation could be considered akin to when MIRRORS covered ‘Something On Your Mind’ which was recorded by Karen Dalton.

“Fading slow” with a delightful burst of synthesized pop bliss, ‘Ghosts’ is not for when the room is quiet, especially during the blistering keyboard solos. Given a remix, the brilliantly naive escapist electronic disco of ‘Escape’ which imagined BANANARAMA fronting NEW ORDER doesn’t quite hit the spot in this new version which is a shame in its position as the title track; the original slice of pop perfection should have been the preferred inclusion

Based around Fender Rhodes, ‘The Young & The Restless’ sounds like a song from a lost French arthouse movie while 11. the absorbing nocturnal electro-disco ‘Days & Nights’ is a gorgeously enticing highlight that glistens as “stars are shining”. Preceded by the interlude ‘L’Amulette De Vie’, the GOLDFRAPP-like ‘Friends & Enemies’ utilises Mellotron flute tones to provide another sparse resigned ballad, concluding with a haunting chorus of children and a foreboding toll.

Featuring seven previously released singles and six new tracks, that’s slightly more than TEARS FOR FEARS ‘The Hurting’ which only featured four new tracks when it came out back in 1983. ‘Escape’ does as its title suggests, a synth-laden soap opera with an idealistic narrative to overcome the challenges that life brings. It has been a long wait but the second DESIRE album is finally here with moments to savour.

‘Escape’ uses the following instruments: MiniKorg 700s, Roland Jupiter 8, Roland TR909, Mellotron, Simmons Rhythm Modules, ARP Solina String Machine, Roland D-50, Fender Rhodes

‘Escape’ is released on 3rd May 2022 via Italians Do It Better, pre-order or pre-save the album via https://idib.ffm.to/desire-escape

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
30th April 2022

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