Category: Reviews (Page 4 of 198)

MOLCHAT DOMA Belaya Polosa

2 September 2024 /

Since their formation in 2017, MOLCHAT DOLMA gained a worldwide cult following with their first two albums ‘S Krysh Nashikh Domov’ and ‘Etazhii’.

From the off, the Belarusian trio had international ambitions and their popularity in Europe and the US led to the prestigious New York based independent label Sacred Bones signing MOLCHAT DOMA and releasing their third long player ‘Monument’ in 2020. Delivering a stark brand of post-punk that sounded like it had been demoed on a portastudio with dirty tape heads, with this highly derivative sound, MOLCHAT DOMA have been target of many jibing if affectionate memes by the @sounds.like.joy.division Instagram parody account.

But with ongoing political tensions in their homeland and having spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Egor Shkutko (vocals), Roman Komogortsev (guitar, synthesizer, drum machine), and Pavel Kozlov (bass, synthesizer) relocated from Minsk to Los Angeles. The end result is their fourth album ‘Belaya Polosa’ which channels the anxiety and fear of that journey into exile to face a future of uncertainty.

With the inevitable comparisons to JOY DIVISION and THE CURE, MOLCHAT DOMA have always had a brutal gothic aesthetic that polarises in black and white. But on ‘Belaya Polosa’, in a new creative environment where the sun is shining on most days, the trio while remaining monochromatic have added some musical colour. While they have not turned into WHAM! or DURAN DURAN, the dancier but still sombre sequenced pulses of classic NEW ORDER and DEPECHE MODE have crept in for a more refined studio product that doesn’t come over like a third generation cassette duplication of THE WAKE or THE NAMES…

Full of front, ‘Ty Zhe Ne Znaesh Kto Ya’ is mighty as electronic body music dominates the mutant template with strident vocals on top to provide a punchy opening salvo. It highlights how MOLCHAT DOMA have grown from the band that released ‘Monument’ as synths stab and throb in a powerful cacophony of precise industrialised sound.

The magnificent ‘Kolesom’ offers glorious apocalyptic electronic disco with an obvious NEW ORDER influence although Bernard Sumner never sounded this foreboding! With an ominous baritone from Shkutko and minimal guitar, it is a commentary on the banality of modern life that acts as a dance in the dark.

‘Son’ is more of the expected MOLCHAT DOMA post-punk fare with its Doktor Avalanche backbone programmed by Komogortsev and accompanied by a gothic bass mantra from Kozlov. However, a surprise is sprung with a bubbly sequencer section appearing in the final third to provide a shimmering contrast to the largely morose mood.

The ‘Belaya Polosa’ title song heads into The Batcave, heavy drum loops and rumbling bass in post-Wilder ‘Ultra’ Mode while something of a sister song with a dominant rhythmic loop, ‘Chernye Tsvety’ is deeper and dreamier, dressed with Lynchian guitar and a hypnotic fretless bassline although in terms of execution, it recalls Swedish band LUSTANS LAKEJAR and their 1999 song ‘Cynisk’.

Fittingly by way of an extended interlude, ‘Beznadezhnyy Waltz’ captures a haunting Cold War atmosphere in a superbly eerie piano and synth instrumental with departing footsteps on wet cobbled paths to boot. But ‘III’ sees MOLCHAT DOMA doing sparkly New York electro dance influenced NEW ORDER with the keyboard solo action something a joy to behold before ‘Ne Vdvoem’ goes downtempo into the realm of THE CURE meeting TEARS FOR FEARS.

The excellent ‘Ya Tak Ustal’ utilises metallic samples that will be familiar to anyone who loved ‘Some Great Reward’ but MOLCHAT DOMA literally morph into Berlin-era DEPECHE MODE with only Shkutko’s vocals in Russian proving this is not Dave Gahan… if only DEPECHE MODE could still be this good today. Closing with the throbbing midtempo unease of ‘Zimnyaya’, this goes the full DEPECHE MODE hog with the chromatic six string interventions and digital drum computer beats authenticating the effect.

Having relatively polished up their sound and adapted to new environments both physically and musically, ‘Belaya Polosa’ is bursting with a chilling tension and drama that reflects the world at large from the point of view of those who have had to escape and find sanctuary. Sadness and defiance are simultaneously embraced as MOLCHAT DOMA leave behind their past. This timely musical document is undoubtedly their best album to date.

‘Belaya Polosa’ is released on 6 September 2024 via Sacred Bones in the usual formats, available from https://lnk.to/BelayaPolosa

MOLCHAT DOMA 2024 live dates:

Glasgow Galvanizers (October 20), Manchester New Century (October 22), Bristol SWX (October 23), London Roundhouse (October 24), Antwerp Trix (October 26), Utrecht Tivoli Vredenburg (October 27), Lille L’Aéronef (October 29), Lyon Le Transbordeur (October 31), Paris L’Olympia (November 2), Hamburg Große Freiheit 36 (November 4), Copenhagen Den Grå Hal (November 5), Oslo Sentrum Scene (November 7), Stockholm Fallan (November 9), Helsinki Kulttuuritalo (November 11), Tallinn Helitehas (November 12), Riga Palladium (November 13), Vilnius Compensa Concert Hall (November 14), Gdansk Stary Manez (November 16), Warsaw Progresja (November 17), Vienna Gasometer (November 21), Prague Lucerna Velký Sál (November 22), Berlin Tempodrom (November 23), Wiesbaden Schlachthof (November 25), Munich Theaterfabrik (November 26), Zurich X-TRA (November 27), Milan Fabrique (November 29)

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
3 September 2024

GENEVA JACUZZI Triple Fire

20 August 2024 /

US independent label Dais Records are on a roll with a roster now including acts such as KITE, TR/ST, ADULT. and DRAB MAJESTY; the latest signing is Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Geneva Jacuzzi.

With a detached Eurocentric poise reminiscent of Gina X, her oeuvre includes not just music, but performance art, live theatre, installations, set design, costume, makeup and set decoration. Her full length debut came in 2010 with ‘Lamaze’ which was assembled from various lo-fi recordings and demos made over the years. Featuring the eerie synthpop of ‘Casket’ and the dysfunctional disco lento of ‘Cannibal Babies’, her second more polished long player ‘Technophelia’ followed in 2016.

‘Triple Fire’ is her third full-length album which she has primarily written and produced with the additional input of a cast including Roderick Edens and Andrew Briggs. It is something she has described “as a hit parade of wildcard synthpop and sly post-apocalyptic camp” as well as “the record that’s going to save mankind”. While all these cheeky proclamations are in the name of art, what Geneva Jacuzzi does definitely possess is catchy hooks in her own surrealist world.

With chunky New York disco influences, the opening salvo ‘Laps Of Luxury’ presents propulsive art pop in the sultry vein of Jyl. More detached but revealing some squawky guitar, ‘Art Is Dangerous’ is Geneva Jacuzzi’s joyous celebration of the art community and its potential for cultural subversion.

Produced by Andrew Clinco of coldwave exponents and label mates DRAB MAJESTY, ‘Speed Of Light’ is jagged and more nonchalant vocally while displaying an enigmatic demeanour, ‘Nu2U’ introduces a deep groove. Brilliantly catchy, ‘Dry’ is alluring danceable synthpop but although it goes weirdly discordant halfway through, it works as it highlights the song’s lyrical gist about dating disconnection following being ghosted.

In ‘Scene Ballerina’, there are cascading modular lines and even jazz piano inflections over the strong rhythmic centre while ‘Take It Or Leave It’ provides glorious new wave pop. ‘Keep It Secret’ adds mystery and a chill to an offbeat bounce with a feline touch recalling Eartha Kitt.

With a vintage drum machine backbone and understated vocals sections duelling with a bizarre gothic backdrop, ‘Rock and A Hard Place’ is oddball and fun in the manner of Lene Lovich, before ‘Bow Tie Eater’ gets some electro funk in to provide another flavour.

The playful ‘Heart Full Of Poison’ parties like its 1983 and could be a synthier Cyndi Lauper but then there’s a sax break to authenticate that desired effect. ‘Yo-Yo Boy’ provides a moody conclusion to ‘Triple Fire’ with cascading synths and Geneva Jacuzzi’s vocal both appropriately soothing.

With Geneva Jacuzzi herself saying the album is “Funny, sexy, sad, scary, witty, hopeful, menacing. Eventually it deconstructs, turns into a party, and then ends sweet and soft”, ‘Triple Fire’ is enjoyably quirky in its delightfully odd mix of accessible electronic pop and energetic art chaos.

‘Triple Fire’ is released by Dais Records on 23 August 2024 in vinyl LP, CD + digital formats, available from https://found.ee/TripleFire

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
20 August 2024

LEATHERS Ultraviolet

12 August 2024 /

Hailing from Vancouver in Canada, ACTORS keyboardist Shannon Hemmett has developed her more synth focussed solo project LEATHERS in parallel.

Not completely divorced from the main band family, ACTORS frontman Jason Corbett acts as producer and collaborator, just as Daniel Hunt did with Helen Marnie on her solo work during the LADYTRON hiatus. Meanwhile, bassist Kendall Wooding and drummer Adam Fink have acted as part of the LEATHERS live set-up

Although primarily synth-led and more immediate melodically, LEATHERS is pop music with darker sensibilities seeded by a love of the imperial phase DEPECHE MODE long players ‘Black Celebration’, ‘Music for the Masses’ and ‘Violator’. Like the excellent debut EP ‘Reckless’ in 2021, the ‘Ultraviolet’ album has been recorded over several years with all the songs released previously as standalone singles online or as part of that first EP.

Shannon Hammett said to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “The idea was to develop LEATHERS in the background while ACTORS toured and continued to release its own material as well. With this more gradual timeline, I was able to develop my songwriting, and my confidence as a performer in real world situations with ACTORS.”

With songs co-written with Corbett, she said “Melodies are important to Jason and I as songwriters, so I imagine some of that comes from our love of 80s era songwriting where strong melody is a key ingredient”. The end result is 10 fine synth-oriented tunes which possess go on a journey to search for the truth between fantasy and reality.

With a dreamy motorik drive and a chilling backdrop of synth drones, ‘Ultraviolet’ acts as a fine opener but much more ominous, the combination of octave bass motifs, drones and bursts of guitar gives ‘Highrise’ a gothic disco action offset by spoken and sung vocals. Utilising a straight four ostinato, the disquieting ‘Crash’ highlights the dark appeal of danger and hypnotises with “no more questions, no more lies”; using lyrical inspiration from JG Ballard and THE NORMAL’s ‘Warm Leatherette’, the thrill is to “Crash the car, survive the wreckage, feel the fear, under the steel”.

Set to a pulsing rhythmic swing, ‘Fascination’ fixes onto the LEATHERS ident of spoken and sung vocals over spy drama resonances. Proceedings are taken down for ‘Day For Night’, an introspective synth-laden ballad with the occasional six and four string intervention that allies it to the moody atmospheres of CHROMATICS and structurally comes over like a dreampop version of MAZZY STAR.

Recalling BLONDIE’s ‘Call Me’ reworked for darkwave dancefloors, ‘Divine’ is a delightful schaffel where Hammett plays dominatrix and “rules do not apply”. ‘Phantom Heart’ though is fiercer and perhaps not that far removed from ACTORS with Hemmett being more contralto to suit with melodic bass guitar flitting in. But ‘Daydream Trash’ is a wonderful outlier, a summery new wave pop tune recalling LA trio CANNONS with an electronic groove that is “100 in the shade” and could have easily come off the soundtrack of a John Hughes film.

First emerging in 2022, the sparklingly breezy ‘Runaway’ remains gorgeous escapist synthpop to elope to before proceedings conclude with ‘Mary’, a reflective ‘Twin Peaks’ styled ballad about “a girl I knew” that brings guitar and piano into the mix.

The only song missing is the brilliant LEATHERS breakthrough song ‘Reckless’, but the fact that the ‘Ultraviolet’ album more or less stands up without it is a reflection of the quality of this collection. If you love ethereal romantic synthpop with sumptuous vocals and sinister twists in that classic Lynchian fashion, then this record is for you.

‘Ultraviolet’ is released by Artoffact Records on 16 August 2024 as a translucent blue vinyl LP, digipak CD + digital formats, available from https://leathers.bandcamp.com/album/ultraviolet

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
12 August 2024

KITE VII

7 August 2024 /

Since releasing their first EP in 2008, Sweden’s KITE have steadily grown in stature with fans including Vince Clarke.

After six acclaimed numbered EPs, the most recent being ‘VI’ in 2015 and live appearances in Germany, China and North America, the enigmatic pairing of Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg were on the cusp of a huge international breakthrough having been “Sweden’s best kept pop secret”.

While the striking Stenemo is a charismatic front man capable of the occasional high kick, the more reserved Berg paints a Rick Wakeman-like figure in charge of his multiple keyboard stacks; the latter comparison is quite apt as the ‘KITE On Ice’ spectacular at Stockholm’s Avicii Arena in February 2025 has already sold out.

However, with their first record label seemingly intent on playing at arrested development with their prize asset (something that other acts on that same label subsequently suffered from) and then a stress related illness afflicting Stenemo in 2017, KITE had to cancel activities and their inevitably career stalled.

After a period of recovery and recuperation, KITE made their triumphant live return in 2019 with a three night residency at Stockholm’s Slaktkyrkan. As momentum was steadily regained, the duo released ‘Tranås/Stenslanda’ in 2020, their first new material since ‘Demon & Shame’ in 2017; another five singles have since followed.

Now after prestigious appearances at the Royal Swedish Opera, the Dalhalla open air amphitheatre and the Amphi Festival, with European + US tour dates arranged for 2024, it is timely that KITE finally release their first full-length studio album on the American independent label Dais Records. As their seventh body of work and following on from the numbered series of EPs, the appropriately titled ‘VII’ contains music from their seven most recent singles released over the past seven years.

Four of the tracks were co-produced with Benjamin John Power, best known as Scared Bones artist BLANCK MASS and a founder member of experimental electronic duo F*CK BUTTONS. Despite being more associated with a much heavier aggressive instrumental sound as exemplified by his own ‘D7-D5’ and ‘Death Drop’, Power appears to have relished pushing a couple of his own pop buttons.

‘VII’ starts with an extended drone intro that may initially confuse listeners, but ‘Remember Me’ is a strident lengthy opening salvo, as if a return to innocence. It documents a battle for hope and resilience born out of “the struggle” of the worldwide pandemic that morphs into an exhilarating epic.

Another pandemic song, ‘Changing’ refers to a “Destination unknown / Without a vision”; reminiscent of ‘I Can’t Stand‘ from the ‘V’ EP, it owes its rumbling backbone to BLANCK MASS. Continuing the theme, ‘Hand Out The Drugs’ provides a huge wonderwall of synthesizers, throbbing beats and full of majestic melodies, it’s another BLANCK MASS co-production which captures the longing for fun and escapism in a locked-down world.

Named after the two small towns in the historical Swedish province of Småland that Berg and Stenemo respectively grew up in, ‘Tranås/Stenslanda’ possesses a lush introspection. And when an emotionally charged Stenemo hits the high notes and responded to by Berg’s gorgeous swirling synth, there is a melancholic grit that is also strangely uplifting in a manner that Scandinavians always seem to excel at. It celebrates the liberating escape that music provides with the profound line “now headphones can cover that hurt”.

A song about “the war between energies”, ‘Don’t Take The Light Away’ places Stenemo’s wounded croon over a tide of stabbing strings, galloping percussion and surging bass, the chanted chorus simultaneously coming over desperate yet triumphant.

Dominated by a melodic stabbing riff, the celebratory pop rave of ‘Teenage Bliss’, sees KITE explore youthful innocence and reminiscences, recalling their earlier songs like ‘Ways To Dance’ and ‘Jonny Boy’. The dynamic combination of KITE and BLANCK MASS is wonderfully hymn-like, with Stenemo’s bittersweet revelation that “life is not like your first kiss…”

Now if Ennio Morricone composed music for Nordic Noir dramas, it would sound like ‘Demons & Shame’. Shaped by a ritualistic drum mantra and brooding bass drones, it confronts the despair that life occasionally throws up while pursuing visions and dreams as Stenemo screams his frustration over Berg’s epic soundscape.

Then like a slice of Nordic gospel, ‘Glassy Eyes’ confronts the turmoil of existential anxiety while befitting its title, ‘Bocelli’ is almost operatic, sombre yet impassioned with backing from the symphonic school of Vangelis.

The hypnotic ‘Bowie ’95’ takes in midlife angst where you are “Supposed to know politics when you’re 46” but are “some light years away from this”; it was 1995 that David Bowie regained his artistic credibility with the ‘1.Outside’ album co-produced by Brian Eno after his ‘Glass Spider’ sins. With an intense BLANCK MASS assisted wall of sound, it is a call to return to self-expression rather than continuing to satisfy others to one’s own detriment.

Self-produced by KITE with Daniel Fagerström, ‘Panic Music’ is fierce. But while the neo-gothic textures are present and correct, Christian Berg further explores his fascination for electronic drones and swoops while there is also the surprise of a guitar solo in the middle eight.

Almost acapella at its start, ‘Losing’ is shaped by doomy piano chords to accompany an anguished vocal from Stenemo in deep harmony with Henric de la Cour as they see “dark skies on the rise”. As immense rhythms and synthetic sweeps creep in, the haunting canvas is dominated with fraught ad libs from Anna Von Hausswolff.

Originally recorded as the love theme to Titus Paar’s dystopian action thriller ‘The Perfect Weapon’ starring Steven Seagal, ‘Hopelessly Unholy’ is aesthetically cinematic, making fine use of traditional orchestrations arranged by Jonas Valfridsson. There is the emotive air of Hans Zimmer in the majestic arrangement, although a fading metronomic pulse of synth coming over like a tracking beacon provides an offset.

Photo by Jonas Andersson

As the wall-of-sound mood piece ‘Hum Hum’ closes proceedings, the question must be asked whether this collection of seven singles works as an album? Documenting a period of trials and tribulations for a duo who have endured an existential crisis, then ‘VII’ does the job and tells a story via its aural diaries. Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Berg are now back where there should have been.

In that time, KITE’s sound has got bigger and more ambitious, so naturally it is time to experience their mystic wonderland within bigger and more ambitious settings. Across its 70 minutes, ‘VII’ more than showcases the power and the glory of KITE.

‘VII’ is released on 9 August 2024 by Dais Records as a double vinyl LP in a variety of colour combinations, CD and download, available via https://found.ee/kitevii

KITE 2024 US + European dates include:

Richmond VA Fallout (28 August), Baltimore MD Metro Gallery (29 August), Brooklyn NY Murder of Crows Festival (30 August), Boston MA Middle East Upstairs (31 August), Berlin Hole 44 (18 September), Bielefeld Forum (19 September), Hamburg Reeperbahn Festival (20 September), Copenhagen Vega (21 September), Dortmund JunkYard (24 September), Cologne Gebäude 9 (24 September), Frankfurt Nachtleben (25 September), Nuremberg Club Stereo (26 September), Prague Futurum Bar (27 September), Atlanta GA The Masquerade Altar (9 October), Tampa FL Absolution Festival (10 October), San Francisco CA DNA Lounge (11 October), Los Angeles Cold Waves LA Showcase (13 October), Portland OR Star Theater (15 October), Chicago IL Beat Kitchen (16 October), Austin TX Elysium (17 October), Dallas TX Tassel (18 October), Minneapolis MN Ground Zero (19 October), Madison WI Crucible Madison (20 October), London Downstairs at the Dome (21 November)

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photo by Jonas Andersson
7 August 2024

JULIA-SOPHIE forgive too slow

24 July 2024 /

After a trilogy of EPs ‘y?’, ‘</3’ and ‘it feels like thunder’, Anglo-French singer-songwriter Julia-Sophie Walker releases her debut album ‘forgive too slow’.

It’s been a long artistic journey for her having almost attained mainstream major label success as a member of rock band LITTLE FISH. But when that collapsed and an attempted reconfiguration as the more cerebral CANDY SAYS stalled, Julia-Sophie became disillusioned with the draining roller coaster of the music industry. Retreating into an independent DIY environment, to create music for the sake of making music, ‘forgive too slow’ is a deeply personal reflection on past relationships.

With her anguished vocals, these gently emotive songs combine traditional composition and experimental sound synthesis. The trip starts at ‘2am’ but as subtle beats stutter, ‘i was only’ heads into a haunting self-appraisal of life and longing, given extra poignancy by the addition of Gallic prose. Also an intense number, ‘lose my mind’ has these buzzy rumbles and skippy rhythms that illustrates its title.

A marvellous avant pop set piece, ‘numb’ is a striking statement with mantric rumbles before a frantic gallop takes hold where sung and spoken passages alternate with a fractured intensity. ‘falling’ to a minimal backdrop and eerily forlorn, this all recalls Emika as the train gathers pace, while ‘comfort you’ has contrasting moods with frantic beats and heavy drones sitting next to parts that are almost acapella.

‘just us’ is smothered in the otherworldliness of GOLDFRAPP’s ‘Felt Mountain’ and is even shoegazey in places, but comparative relief comes with ‘wishful thinking’ which is more like a catchy electronic pop song.

As she wants things to be ‘better’, there are signs of resignation as the beats get harder. Closing with the emotive longing of ‘telephone’, overtones of I AM SNOW ANGEL are captured on this rich ballad where gentle glassy texturing ably illustrate her fragility.

While this record is sad and despondent in the way that the late Françoise Hardy always seemed, Julia-Sophie does have hope on the horizon in her style of absorbing avant pop. One moment these songs can be ambient, then rhythmically skippy, then airy pop while sung in English and then spoken in French, each presents its own world weary character connected by Julia-Sophie’s fraught narrative.

Julie-Sophie said in an interview with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK: “Finishing and releasing ‘forgive too slow’ feels quite exposing. This album delves deeper into the complexities of relationships than anything I’ve done before, exploring themes of self-destruction, tenderness, love, and emotional struggles.”

This is what happens when people ‘forgive too slow’ and become trapped in their past, but does Julia-Sophie solve her woes? Maybe not yet and while she remains embroiled in pain, catharsis comes in this musical life laundry. Swathed in an intriguing electronic sound, her understated fulfilment combines emotional unease with an airy beauty for some satisfying thoughtful listening.

‘forgive too slow’ is released on 26 July 2024 by Ba Da Bing Records as a turquoise vinyl coloured LP + download, available from https://juliasophie.bandcamp.com/

Julia-Sophie plays London Dalston Victoria on Wednesday 31 July, Oxford Common Ground on Thursday 1st August and Oxford Truck on Saturday 3 August 2024

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Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Siobhan Cox
24 July 2024

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