Jean-Marc Lederman

Rohn-Lederman Bring the Heat on Volcano

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

The leftfield pop project, Rohn‑Lederman, brings together two artists from different corners of the dark electronic world.

Emileigh Rohn is a Detroit-based vocalist, songwriter and producer best known for her long‑running project, Chiasm, for which she crafts intimate, industrial‑leaning electronic songs. Rohn’s work tends to fold personal –  often anxious – lyricism into sparse, moody arrangements, giving her voice a confessional, slightly haunted presence.

Jean‑Marc Lederman, by contrast, is a Belgian composer and producer with decades of work in European alternative and electronic music. His experience ranges from acts like Fad Gadget, The Weathermen and Kid Montana to ambient and soundtrack‑style projects. Where Rohn’s background mostly is solo writing and production, Lederman’s is rooted in shifting collaborations, sound design, and sweeping vistas summoned through synths and programming.

The duo’s new album, Volcano, trades the duo’s usual synthetic shimmer for something rougher around the edges. Across its 12 tracks, you can hear them leaning into a more cathartic register, framing Rohn’s vocal intensity with guitars that snarl rather than simply decorate. Earlier releases like Venus Chariot and Forbidden Planet often felt like intricate electronic architecture – loaded with industrial pulses, cinematic synths, and controlled atmospherics. Volcano, by contrast, feels more like a pressure valve being released.

The lead single, “Paper Plane,” sets the tone. Rohn’s voice is almost a whisper as she shares the news that she is a toy boat. The instrumentation is stripped back and creates space for her story to unfold.

The guitar‑influenced arrangements blur the line between electro project and alt‑guitar band in a way similar to Frank Tovey’s mid-career shift towards stringed instruments. Our favourite track is – perhaps ironically but also predictably – the most synth-oriented. “To Greener Grass” is simple in its structure but endearing in its tone.

If earlier Rohn‑Lederman recordings invited you to ease into their world, Volcano is more direct. It’s not their sleekest album, but that’s rather the point – in many ways, it’s their most human.

Volcano is released on 6 March 2026.

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Try Walking in His Slippers: Jean-Marc Lederman Returns

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

The Jean-Marc Lederman Experience returns with a new set of material. The theme, this time, is a throwback to the synthetic sounds of Lederman’s formative years.

Lederman escaped Brussels and Digital Dance at the beginning of the 1980s with Phil Wauquaire. The two met up with Frank Tovey, at Daniel Miller‘s suggestion, and became the original backing band for Fad Gadget. That freed up Tovey to get more physical on stage, which often led to broken bones and bruises while the Belgians took refuge behind their synths. After a short European tour and a period of recovery, Fad moved to his next stage with a new band.

Lederman, in turn, moved on to Kid Montana; combining trendy shirts and solid beats with a persistent sense of humour. More commercial material followed, using a similar formula: The Weathermen, a collaboration with Bruce Geduldig of Tuxedomoon, skewered alternative pop with tongues firmly planted in cheeks. Across all of his projects, Lederman has maintained a distinct sense of levity, no matter how heavy the grooves.

Which brings us to Electronic Slipper Music. With lyrics written by Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) and Jacques Duvall (of “Banana Split” fame), the album maintains Lederman’s penchant for collaboration. With its retro-electronic feel, it is a nostalgic trip into the modular and single-oscillator sounds of Lederman’s early forays into music.

“Last night, I saw the ghost of Alan Vega,” he intones over a track infused with the style of Suicide. Lederman doesn’t often sing on his own songs; but that is a pity, as he conveys a subtly comedic element that carries the theme.

On “False Start,” the beats are wrought from iron, but there is no let-up in the hints at levity. Electronic Slipper Music sounds ridiculous as a title, but Lederman’s humour is entirely self-depracating.

Overall, the album succeeds in its references to the late 70s and early 80s, despite being made using very modern equipment (Ed: Now that is ironic, Alanis Morrissette). It is also hugely entertaining.

The full album is out in physical and digital formats on 31 August 2025.

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Rohn-Lederman on Release

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

The Rohn-Lederman publicity machine announces that there is a new album coming on 4 March 2025. Ahead of that, the duo offer a digital EP as a taster; mostly featuring remixes of “Steal the Light.”

Formed by Emileigh Rohn of Chiasm and the Belgian legend, Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Fad Gadget, Kid Montana), Rohn-Lederman has had success marrying Rohn’s sensuous vocals to electronics with dark pop themes. The source material for the EP is quality, but it is taken to new levels at the hands of Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Aiboforcen, and Sarmen Almond (Man in Motion).

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Rohn-Lederman Emerge Black and Blue

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

As a working partnership, the collaboration between Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) and Jean-Marc Lederman (Fad Gadget, The Weathermen, Kid Montana) is productive. The evidence is that they have a double CD album on release.

Black and Bleu collects no less than twenty tracks that demonstrate the Rohn-Lederman work ethic. From the samples we have heard, it is on par with their ability to craft quality songs that bear repeated listening.

The album is released on 3 May 2024 via Bandcamp as a double CD with a 44-page booklet featuring illustrations by the artists. The cover art comes from the Belgian artist, Erica Hinyot.

The label informs us:

20 tracks – 10 Black, 10 Bleu – that focus on the artists’ devotion to emotional content and creativity over predictability and security; each color presents different thematic focus, with the Black symbolizing the chaos and tension of the world, while Bleu represents calmer resolve in the face of uncertainty” as pointed by a famous German outlet.
They are probably right: the double album “Black And Bleu” is a whirlwind of emotions and the songs will take you and won’t let go, no no no.

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Science Diction: Lederman Looks Back at the Future

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

To get to the ten songs on Sci-Fi Revisited, you need to solve a puzzle on a computer screen. Jumping through this hoop is a throw-back to the primitive games that people used to make with Macromedia Flash. As well as adding a nostalgic touch, it is a reminder of how mich artists thought about the overall experience when creating albums in days gone past. With streaming, music is just part of a giant data pool, and even cover art has been replaced by a thumbnail.

Jean-Marc Lederman isn’t happy just throwing his creations into the pond with all of the other data. Whether making lenticular images or books, he takes care to link his music with other objects. He is also keen to involve many of his collaborators and contacts – to share the vision and broaden the scope of his projects. As The Jean-Marc Lederman Experience, an ever-shifting band of artists add their parts to the Belgian composer’s instrumentation with something close to a free hand.

Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

On this outing, we find readings of science fiction literature, voiced by Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm), Tom Shear (Assemblage 23), Christina Z, Mari Kattman, Mira Shear, Ken Magerman (Amaranth), Julianne Regan, Daz Sharp, Jim Marcus (Die Wurzau), Sapphira Vee (Die Wurzau), and Lederman (Kid Montana, The Weathermen) himself.

It’s a Who’s Who (which always should have been Who’s Whom, surely?) of one corner of alternative music. The material comes from various sources, but it is unified by its retro take on the future. The result is a public radio show for goths and cybers.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Buyers on Bandcamp can get their hands on an exclusive comic book made to accompany the album. Together with the video game and high-resolution downloads, it represents three eras of science fiction.

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The real joy of Sci-Fi Revisited lies in the musical fragments distributed by Lederman to his cohort. He has made techno and EBM, but Our Man in Brussels also has a good line in cinematic, expressive ambience. Hans Zimmer hasn’t snatched him up yet, but there is still time.

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The Top 23 of 2023

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

This has been a difficult year for parts of the music industry. Bandcamp, owned by Epic Games, turned on its workers in an attempt to break its union and reduce its size. Moog was sold to inMusic, the owners of Akai and M-Audio, and started its own programme of layoffs. Spotify announced that it would stop paying artists for 2/3 of the songs it makes available. Glume and Xylo announced that they had turned to sex work to compensate for the challenges of making a living in music. Merchandise sales – the life-blood of touring acts – came under taxation by many venues. At the same time, overall revenues continued to rise – data from 2022 showing new record levels of cash flowing towards the monopolies that control live performances, publishing, and recorded music catalogues. Independent labels and self-releasing artists were squeezed for every last drop, while the grabbing hands grabbed all they could. To quote a California millionaire who contributed to a top-selling album this year, it’s a competitive world.

The misfortune is that exceptional music gets drowned out between the cacophony of TikTok and the sanitised celebrities of the Superbowl half-time show. Challenging sounds and radical ideas are marginalised, even as alternative venues are bulldozed to make way for new developments (goodbye, Iklectik). So, what is to be done?

Part of the answer is greater public funding of the arts – and not just the opera. By supporting festivals and other live events, resources can be used to keep venues and performing artists on their feet. Bursaries for artists to be able to meet their bills while creating new works can be an alternative to sex work or other last-ditch measures. Setting fair royalties for streaming of creative works can help to make up for the declines in physical sales. Rules against union-busting can keep skilled workers engaged. Streaming services should be treated like broadcasters and subjected to royalty regulations. None of these should be controversial measures, but the neoliberal assault on public life has, over decades, eroded the foundation on which culture industries stand. Without action, only Live Nation/Ticketmaster, Sony, and Spotify will be left standing. Breaking up those monopolies would be no bad thing, either.

In that spirit, all of the artists in this year’s chart are on independent labels. We encourage you to buy their releases, rather than just stream them. Wear their merch. Go to their shows. Ignore events designed to suck all of the oxygen out of the scene, with “dynamic pricing” and £50 t-shirts sold by multinational corporations. You can do better, and these artists deserve it.

23. CAPPA – Hell of a Time

LA-based Carla Cappa has been working for years, knocking out dreamy pop music with to-the-minute touches. This track demonstrates CAPPA’s commercial sensibility and pop dynamics. One for the car or the dance floor.

22. Aux Animaux – Night

The long night has descended on Sweden, so it is a good time to highlight this track from Stockholm’s aux animaux, which appears on the new Body Horror album. It comes with a playful video and old-school gothic vibes that give a taste of Gözde Düzer’s style.

21. Elegiac – Meet My Stalker

The collaboration between Blurt’s Ted Milton and Wire’s Graham Lewis known as Elegiac first took shape in 2021, but their work was far from finished. This EP is their second release, pieced together by sound artist Sam Britton. It collects revised versions of three songs from the debut Elegiac album, married to this newly revealed piece. 

20. Container 90 – Grand PrixXx

This collection of songs by Container 90 is the duo’s fourth album. It comes as a comic book, instead of a traditional insert, with each page reflecting one of the tracks. Old school EBM lives on through Container 90, and this set draws together their “Eurovision Song Protest,” “EBM Way of Life,” and “Roller Derby Love Affair.” Solid.

19. Sunroof – Electronic Music Improvisations Live in London and Frankfurt

The really fun thing about Sunroof is that two of the most accomplished producers of our time balance on a knife’s edge with unpredictable modules to generate sounds together. There are psychological studies that show band members develop a hive-mind when playing together, but neither Daniel Miller nor Gareth Jones consider themselves musicians. Still, their process of engagement with the sounds (and silences) of the other yields compelling and finessed results. There is a danger with improvisations that threads are lost or egos compete, but neither of these risks has arisen during their performances. The evidence is on this album, which captures shows in London and Frankfurt. The vital flow of electrons, mediated through the hands of the two friends, is something to behold. 

18. Vince Clarke – Songs of Silence

Although Vince Clarke is best known for bouncy pop songs made on monophonic synthesisers, he has a long history of making music on the more experimental side. In particular, his collaborations with Martyn Ware as The Illustrious Company have dabbled in multidimensional sounscapes and material for installstions.

It shouldn’t have been such a surprise, therefore, that a break from Erasure work should have led to the development of Songs of Silence. Billed as Clarke’s first solo album, it is a collection of songs built from drones generated on the units incorporated into Clarke’s Eurorack modular system. It could be standard Cafe Oto/Wire Magazine fare, if it wasn’t for Clarke’s ear, which is tuned in an unusually sensitive way.

17. Lucy Gaffney – Daydream in Tokyo

From Belfast, Lucy Gaffney appeared with a style that recalls the much-missed Delays. Fusing guitar-based rhythms with touches of electronics and a very smooth vocal, Gaffney came up with several great songs this year, but this is our favourite.

16. NNHMN – Circle of Doom

The duo of Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg have worked out how to make dark electro tantalising. The current NNHMN album, Circle of Doom, is laden with elegant, charged and dynamic songs to keep the body moving.

15. Die Sexual – Tremble for Me

The US duo, Die Sexual, released a tremendous debut EP this year. Bound, I Rise is certain to make a number of year-end charts with its edgy grooves. We went for this later release, which goes to show that the EP wasn’t beginner’s luck.

14. Cosmic Garden Project – The Green Reverb

There are some artists who seem to be able to add magic to everything they touch. Dan Söderqvist, the Twice a Man singer, is one of those. This year, he has released two albums and still found time for the Cosmic Garden Project. Bringing together Söderqvist, Per Svensson and Pontus Torstensson, The Green Reverb is a poetic, enchanted journey through ancient forests to the sea. It has a psychedelic flow, but there is a reflective tone to the material, as it contemplates our connection to Mother Earth.

13. Lonelyklown – I Believe in Snow

The solo project of Dave Baker, Lonelyklown, was active this year with an album of remixes (Day Jar View), an ode to “All the Summers Gone,” and a pair of songs for the season. This is the last of them, and the proceeds go to support Care4Calais, a charity supporting refugees. It is a reminder that Baker’s songwriting talents and current fascination for the 70s can produce the most amazing gems.

12. John Foxx – The Arcades Project

Harold Budd’s The White Arcades is one of the best applications of reverb ever. John Foxx’s The Arcades Project calls that 1988 album to mind, and it certainly doesn’t stint on the processing. Inspired by a book by Walter Benjamin of the same name, it explores spaces and sights through ambience and presence. John Foxx is a national treasure, and this is an album that belongs in a gallery instead of the CD rack.

11. Strikkland – Enkelriktat

Representing Sweden’s West Coast, the body-pop fusion of Strikkland continues to charge ahead with its hard-edge rhythms. The duo have been picking up more live shows, and their style is like a set of shiny leather boots on the pavement of modern radio.

10. KUNT – Unleashed

The first album from Sweden’s KUNT is a blast. The duo of Paula Lè Boss and Rickard Rosendahl have created a powerful, in-your-face sound that strikes with sequenced blows. This track, remixed by Cryo, gives a good taste of the emphatic, no-nonsense attitude the band delivers.

9. Kite – Don’t Take the Light Away SINGLE OF THE YEAR

Produced together with the Swedish team, Aasthma (Pär Grindvik and Peder Mannerfelt), Kite released this track back in April – just in time for their first live shows in London. Need we say that they were storming demonstrations of the duo’s capability to write outstanding tunes? This track adds to the evidence.

8. Psyche – Live in Sweden

Psyche returned to Europe from a nightmarish year with a storming and emotional show at the famous Dickens pub in Helsingborg. It was quickly released as a live recording, which is excellent, as it captures Darrin Huss at his rawest. The set includes “Prisoner to Desire,” “Uncivilised,” “Misery,” and “The Outsider” – classic Psyche tracks that show a European soul in a Canadian body.

7. The Weathermen – 40 Years REISSUE OF THE YEAR

Take the keyboard player from Fad Gadget’s first live band. Add the visuals director from Tuxedomoon. Stir in politics, cynicism, and a fondness for the absurd. Bake in some hard, minimal electronics. That gives you The Weathermen – Belgium’s iconic electro-jesters.

The band had a string of hits that moved the alternative dancefloor in the late 80s and early 90s. This year, PIAS, their label, marked their 40th anniversary with an EP collecting several of them in one place on vinyl. The throb of Jean-Marc Lederman’s bass synth on “Poison” shakes the walls as Suzanna Stammer (Bruce Geduldig) threatens your Bruce Springsteen records. “Barbie and Ken” is a reminder that Margot Robbie wasn’t the first to satirise the impossibly perfect dolls. “Bang!” is just terrific fun. This is an essential collection of timeless dance music with a knowing glint in its eye.

6. Zanias – Chrysalis

Berlin-based Alison Lewis has honed her alter-ego project into something very special. As Zanias, she released Chrysalis this year; combining personal and political viewpoints into a statement of hope. You don’t mess with Zanias – and you don’t mess with Mother Earth.

5. Pieces of Juno – Atlantis

The last of the Pieces of Juno works expected from Norway’s Juno Jensen, Atlantis struck us with its naturalistic touches. There are also glints of Nick Cave’s, Tom Waits’ and PJ Harvey’s influences. This is the perfect album for Sunday night listening with the lights down. If it doesn’t leave you touched, you are a psychopath.

4. Lau Nau – Aphrilis

Finland’s Lau Nau was very active again this year. She released 5×4 as summer approached, and then this album came towards year-end. Her tenth album, Aphrilis is a figure of beauty and wonder. There are lullabies and songs for the planet, and the material flows with sensual tension. Not a foot is set wrong across the seven songs. Lau Nau and her collaborators have taken the space to create them with a sense of connection with the natural world, and the results are lush.

3. Lucifer’s Aid – Destruction

The new album from Calle Nilsson’s solo project, Lucifer’s Aid, is an exciting career highlight. The previous four studio albums have shown great workmanship, but the craft on Destruction is next level. It sits neatly alongside the best work by Front Line Assembly and label-mates Cryo. This is seriously good dance floor-filling material.

2. REIN – God Is a Woman

In 2023, Stockholm’s REIN criss-crossed North America with Front Line Assembly, and opened for Nitzer Ebb and Front 242, but her new album showed a side several steps removed from her EBM roots. With her coproducer, Djedjotronic, REIN fused elements of Robyn, Janet Jackson, Eurythmics, and The Prodigy to create a dynamic and forward-looking set of songs.

1. Page – En ny våg ALBUM OF THE YEAR

When Daniel Miller released a series of records as Silicon Teens, he showed the future to a young Eddie Bengtsson. The Swedish skateboarder sold his drums and bought two cheap synths. One went to Marina Schiptjenko, and the result was a pioneering band that took over where ABBA left off.

More than four decades later, Page are still making innovative and dynamic sounds with their equipment. Both have been updated for the times, but the spirit of 1979-1980 runs through them. En ny våg is the concentrated extract of Synth Britannia, as imagined by Bengtsson and processed through Moog keyboards. The material is as rich as anything the duo have made, and proceedings are enhanced by the appearance of Chris Payne and Rrussell Bell from Gary Numan’s touring band and Dramatis. It is a match made in Heaven (at least, before Branson bought it).

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Scratched and Warped: The Weathermen on Vinyl Again

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

We are in the year of the fortieth anniversary of Play It Again Sam Records. It is also the year that Bruce Geduldig, Tuxedomoon’s visuals artist, would have turned 70. Fitting, then, to find a six-track EP of songs by The Weathermen on release from PIAS.

A collaboration between Geduldig and Jean-Marc Lederman from Fad Gadget’s first touring band, The Weathermen leaped onto the stage with “Deep Down South” in 1985. From their base in Brussels, they combined the electro-intensity of Front 242 and Kraftwerk with a sense of humour that mercilessly mocked rock tropes and the lovers of Svetlana Alliluyeva. Named after a group of middle-class American radicals, who used to recruit youth by attacking them in the street and were known for blowing themselves up, The Weathermen took nothing seriously except the mixing of their samples and heavy-duty beats.

For their third communique, John F. Kennedy had been roped in for lead vocals on “Let Them Come to Berlin.” Using the cut-up tape style of Cabaret Voltaire, The Weathermen managed to turn the dead president’s anti-communist speech into a dancefloor classic. It set a template for subversion, both on and off the dancefloor, and anticipated Berghain decades before the queues started to form.

The 40 EP collects these songs with four others from the band’s very respectable back catalogue. The stand-out track, and the one that had the greatest reach for the duo, is “Poison,” in which Geduldig plays the role of stalking groupie, Suzanna Stammer. Over Lederman’s classic electro track, which featured sampled metal and a menacing bass line, Stammer leaves a series of threatening voice messages. The scary part is that there are real Suzanna Stammers, from Plan K to Pustervik. Thanks to The Weathermen, you can dance to genius tracks like “Bang!” in the club while she scratches up your Bruce Springsteen records back at home. Best have a word with your drummer about who he lets in.

It’s 2023. Bruce is gone, but the beats remain.

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The Top 18 of 2018

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Two thousand and eighteen was a challenging year for electronic music.

After a spate of excellent releases in 2017, it was as if a lot of artists were pausing for breath.

If we were cynical, we might suggest that could have been because Soft Cell sucked so much oxygen out of the scene with the hype and merch for their “final” show. In our support, we could point to the Last Pint in Sodom beer glasses, USB sticks, snow globes, remix albums, box sets, t-shirts, books, DVDs – a long list of products that must have kept Chinese factory workers at their tables long into the night. Who was ever going to compete against a marketing event on that scale?

Against that argument, one could point to the actually very substantial collection of remixes and rarities released by one of the greatest bands ever to migrate from Leeds. Soft Cell had some great moments, and they unearthed and repackaged many of them for fans in the course of the year. You only live twice, Marc Almond once sang on a cover song, and he was right: once as an edgy cabaret act with a penchant for leather; and again as a vendor of knick-knacks in the O2.

The fact is that Soft Cell’s songbook is a mighty but variable thing. It’s full of flaws, and there were mis-steps in their show, but they were always the girl who puts her lipstick on slightly askew.

Their experience should be an inspiration for artists who head for Melodyne plug-ins and hire a dozen songwriters to work on a single track. Sometimes, grit is sexier than gloss.

18. Technomancer – The Outsider EP

Technomancer - The Outsider EPA set of covers by Lexxy from Norway, The Outsider EP shows off her unique ability to focus the essence and sound of electronic music.

The title track is a Psyche song, and it is possibly chosen as a statement as well as an excellent alternative track.

It is joined by a powerful version of Ultravox’s “Sleepwalk”; a cover of Rational Youth’s “I’ve Got a Sister in the Navy” (that first appeared on the Heresy compilation from Cold War Night Life, we don’t hesitate to say); and a version of Depeche Mode’s “Puppets” made with fellow Norwegians, Stephan Groth of Apoptygma Berzerk and Angst Pop.

All of the covers have been recorded with sensitivity and affection for the originals, and the EP format allows for precision and economy of vision.

17. Familjen – Kom

Familjen - KomThere was a long gap between Familjen‘s previous album in 2012 and this year’s release. It had something to do with concern about the growth of mainstream fascism in Hässleholm, but in the interval Johan T Karlsson found a way to give voice to the stories of Syrian refugees and insurgent women.

Hailed on its release as a politically informed album, Aftonbladet also positioned it somewhere on the spectrum between Happy Mondays and New Order. We didn’t get the Manchester connection, and we wouldn’t have gone so far from Skåne, which has its own tradition of electro. Suffice to say that we found it more Björk than Bez.

16. Daniel Myer – Find, Fund, Finish

Daniel Myer - Find, Fund, FinishThere are, in this world, a lot of dicks who steal instruments from musicians. It’s happened to most artists at some point – gear left in vans can disappear with the vehicle, but even keyboards left on stage can vanish in the dark of a concert venue.

It happened to Daniel Myer while he was trying to complete an Architect project, so he put out this compilation of rareties on Bandcamp to raise funds to do what insurance did not.

As a collection, it’s a strong set from the German producer. There are twenty live recordings, demo tracks, alternative versions and unreleased songs on offer, and there isn’t a weak moment between them.

With any luck, the clowns who lifted his equipment will experience the karma wheel rolling over them, while those who purchased this material will get a new Architect album soon.

15. Robert Rental – Different Voices for You, Different Voices for Me

Robert Rental - Different Voices for You, Different Colours for MeRobert Rental was one of those quiet souls who made big noises. When he toured with The Normal, at the end of the 1970s, he made such a racket that it was impossible to tell what he was shouting over the industrial maelstrom the two created.

He also made a seminal record together with another Scot, Thomas Leer. Throbbing Gristle provided them with the basic equipment needed to record The Bridge, and they made an album divided into ambient and electro-industrial halves.

In connection with a masterful exhibition curated by Simon Dell, some of Rental’s old tapes were recovered and shared on this album. It adds to the collection of fuzzy experimental material that Rental had himself passed around, and provides a link to the material that he released through Mute Records.

We don’t have Rental with us any longer; but, thanks to the work of his family and fans, his musical legacy can still be appreciated.

14. Black Needle Noise – I Am You

Black Needle Noise - I Am YouJohn Fryer’s Black Needle Noise project is the spiritual successor to This Mortal Coil, and each release reveals a little more of the DNA that spawned that legendary enterprise.

Released on vinyl for the first time, via No Devotion Records, BNN is finally in its natural element. With three tracks on this release, including a collaboration with Bill Leeb from Front Line Assembly, there’s a nod to the singles that Fryer was heavily involved with in the 1980s.

As the house engineer at Blackwing Studios in London, Fryer worked on many of the iconic releases from Mute and 4AD from the 1980s. This release proved that the touch he brought to those recordings is still alive in his LA studio set-up.

13. Tomaga – Music for Visual Disorders

Tomaga - Music for Visual DisordersTomaga is an experimental project, but it yields excellent results.

The duo of Valentina Magaletti and Tom Relleen came up with two albums in 2018, but this is the one we bought. It’s rich with rhythms and loops, percussive flourishes and reverb. Just the kind of thing that you can put on for a Sunday night with the lights down.

Click. Click. Drone.

12. Psyche & No More – Ghosts of the Past

Psyche & No More - Ghosts of the PastPsyche and No More are two of the most influential dark wave acts, and putting them together for a collaboration was a great idea.

“Ghosts of the Past” came out in time for Halloween, and it makes it seem simple to make melodic poptronica.

Darrin Huss has one of the best voices in the genre, and both bands know how to put together a solid slab of horror electronics. Tina Sanudakura’s Theremin wails and swirls around Huss’ lead vocal, calling down the spirits. It’s a nightmare only for commercial radio.

11. Yazoo – Four Pieces

Yazoo - Four Pieces
Yazoo broke up even before they recorded their second album. Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet paid separate visits to the studio, so that Clarke didn’t have to put up with Alf’s emotional states. The cover image, showing two dogs fighting in the cold, summed up the relationship as well as the title, You and Me Both.

Things gradually thawed between the two, leading to the Reconnected tour in 2008. Since then, however, there has been only a brief appearance for the Mute Short Circuit event, a live album from the tour and some remixes on offer.

The Four Pieces box Set (Three Pieces for those going down the CD route) doesn’t offer anything new for avid collectors, but it does refresh the vinyl and offer graphical treats. How does a reissue of thirty-five year old material push its way our year-end chart? By still sounding fresher and better than 99.99% of the material pushed on us by PRs in 2018.

10. Dubstar – One

Dubstar - OneDubstar‘s dreampop had an obvious home in the 1990s. It was as English as a cucumber sandwich eaten on a lay-by in the rain on a trip with your parents, but it was also subversive. They made pencil cases do things.

Fast forward to 2018, and the band has broken up, got back together without a lot of unnecessary baggage, and only gone and made one of the best albums of the year.

Everyone loves Sarah Blackwood’s voice, and it hasn’t lost any of its charm by clean living. Chris Wilkie’s guitar work has retained its psychedelic edge, even if he appears on the cover dressed as a Maoist factory worker circa 1964.

The songs are great: still impressed with an edge and as refreshing as a tin in the park on a warm day.

9. Lederman/De Meyer – Eleven Grinding Songs

Lederman/De Meyer - Eleven Grinding SongsWhat started as a collaboration for a (still forthcoming) album of Fad Gadget songs led Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Kid Montana) and Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242) to work together for a full album of Eleven Grinding Songs.

Their cover of “Back to Nature” was blessed by Daniel Miller, and their version of Wire’s “20 Versions” was sensitive to the original, but it was “Atoms of Fury” that showed the real potential of this link-up. It came out with a set of remixes, but none were as good as the official version.

8. Gus Gus – Lies Are More Flexible

Gus Gus - Lies Are More FlexibleIceland’s best dance music export, Gus Gus, returned with an excellent album in 2018. By now, the template of modular synths, effects units and dynamic vocals is easily recognisable, but they still haven’t exhausted its possibilities.

7. Various Artists – A Collection of the New Brat Pack

Various Artists - A Collection from the New Brat PackSweden’s famous Romo Night might not be with us, but it lives on through Romo Records.

This compilation brought together a diverse set of artists, including Hiltipop, Glas and Anymachine feat. Jeddy 3. It highlighted a collection of new and classic Swedish artists who need to be heard on vinyl. We hope for more from this team in 2019.

6. Cryo – Sanitarium

Cryo - SanitariumSweden has produced its shared of EBM bands over the years. There must be something in the Viking blood that draws them to 16-step sequencers and electronic drum pads.

From that scene, the duo of Cryo has consistently made some of the most atmospheric and emotionally infused material. For more than a decade, going back to releases like Cryogenic and Mixed Emotions, Cryo has marched to the beat of its own drum (machine).

The release of “Sanitarium,” built upon a scene from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, reinforces their position as the most original and human of the machine-operating artists on the cold side of the Baltic Sea.

5. Chris Carter – CCCL Vol. 1

Chris Carter - CCCL Vol. 1It has been more than thirty years since the Gristle ceased to throb, but Chris Carter continues to plow a unique furrow of experimental electronics. The creator of some of the most romantic electronic music of all time, Carter remains an industrial original.

Famed for creating his own synthesizers from schematics printed in magazines, Carter now has modular synth manufacturers lining up to collaborate with him. He is also in constant demand as a remixer. The surprise, therefore, is that he has found the time to put together a new solo album at all.

Although inspired by his take on the material produced by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, CCCL is unmistakably in Carter’s own style. On a track like “Blissters,” one hears more European Rendezvous than Dr Who. Similarly, “Modularity” might be driven by Euro-rack gear, but the signature of the man twiddling the knobs is written across the piece.

There is a new collection of Carter’s solo work coming from Mute. This is a timely addition to his catalogue.

4. Zanti – Broken Hearted City

Zanti - Broken Hearted CityA surprise on its release, Zanti‘s first album is elegant and deep. Made by the duo of Anni Hogan and Simple Minds’ bass man, Derek Forbes, it more than made up for a year of half-hearted releases and Soundcloud flotsam elsewhere.

Hogan has a history of collaborations that stretches from Marc Almond to Lydia Lunch. With Forbes, she has linked up with one of the great geniuses of rhythm, and it turns out that he has an astonishingly good voice.

If 4AD still cared about the kind of music they are putting out, instead of finding the latest dubstep, this is an album that they would have killed to release. A track like “Will You Be Mine” is tailor-made for fans of This Mortal Coil.

If you missed Broken Hearted City on release, correct that now!

3. Vive la Fete – Destination Amour

Vive la Fete - Destination AmourThe best album in years from one of Europe’s go-to party bands, Destination Amour built on a combination of space disco and Europop influences. “Toute la nuit” buzzed with killer saws, Els Pyloo’s ethereal vocals and a pulsing rhythm section lifted straight from 1977.

Just brilliant.

2. Robert Görl – The Paris Tapes

Robert Goerl - The Paris TapesThe really mad thing about Robert Görl is his ability to wrestle emotion from synthesizers. Although best known for his heavy rhythm work in DAF, an early solo single, “Mit Dir,” demonstrated that with a limited set of equipment (and a limited number of words) he could produce works of fragile and enduring beauty.

The Paris Tapes were recorded while Görl was evading military service in France after one of DAF’s many break-ups. Armed only with an Ensoniq ESQ-1, he trained himself to deploy basslines instead of barbed wire. His marches took him to the UK, where he teamed up with Dee Long of Klaatu (and Rational Youth’s one-time producer) to work on the material. A visit to Germany led to a drive in a car; the car led to a tree; and the rehabilitation that followed led to the abandonment of the actual Paris tapes.

They were eventually recovered, but the moment to develop them had passed. They came out for Record Store Day, then, frozen much as they were when Görl’s body was shattered on an icy Munich road. Even so, the material out-Jarred Jarre in the year of his return to Oxygene.

1. Page – Adapted EP/Start EP

Page - Adapted EPSweden’s original poptronica act came to London to show off their new material in October. Page brought with them a very limited run of CDs featuring versions of some of the songs on their Start EP, and the first forty people through the door at their show received a copy courtesy of Cold War Night Life. Needless to say, their appearance at the sold out show was warmly received by an international crowd, and the CDs quickly became collector’s items.

What gets Page to the pole position on this year’s list isn’t their generosity; nor is it their willingness to switch into English for their London audience – it’s their unrivaled feeling for poptronica. Eddie Bengtsson is called “Sweden’s Vince Clarke” for very good reasons; and, with new Moogs at his disposal, he might very well be the Nordic answer to Dramatis and Ultravox, as well.

If Soft Cell could have pulled off this trick, they wouldn’t have had to retire.

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The Top 17 of 2017

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

After the loss of so many artists in 2016, it was a pleasure to see some of the original synthpop heroes back on the release trail. OMD, Alison Moyet, Erasure and Blancmange were among those with new albums to perform, and they all stuck to what they do best.

Against that backdrop, Depeche Mode‘s effort, Spirit, seemed a tired and forced attempt at American blues-rock.

Depeche Mode used to sing about danger, but there was nothing particularly risky about Spirit. Against a backdrop of nuclear threats, environmental disaster and grinding poverty, the millionaires from Basildon put on beards and taunted their neighbours for letting them down (again?).

The album contained many of the band’s familiar sounds, but fans complained that it lacked the magic of earlier works. We probably won’t see another Depeche Mode album until 2021, so we can only hope that by then Trump will be gone and Martin Gore will have rediscovered the joys of moody electronic pop.

In contrast, this year’s list is packed with risk-takers. From industrial pioneers to Finnish librarians who dabble in experimental soundtracks; from middle-aged Swedish dark electro songwriters to Belgian conceptual artists – 2017 was the year in which those who dared won.

17. Throbbing Gristle – Second Annual Report

It’s a reissue, but Mute’s release of Throbbing Gristle’s first album is a reminder of how potent the capital-I Industrial  quartet were in the second half of the 1970s.

In those days, entertainment for many English youths consisted of shooting fireworks at each other or gobbing on pub rock bands playing at high speed. Synthesizers were the devil’s handiwork, and anyone putting them on stage was a Rick Wakeman effigy waiting to be hung from the nearest faux-Tudor beams.

Throbbing Gristle didn’t care. They liked ABBA and built their own kit. The audience could throw all the chairs they liked – they were going to play on.

The unconventional, deconstructed sound of TG started riots, wound up the press and opened the doors to post-punk experimentation. Second Annual Report turned forty this year, but even in middle age it stands head and shoulders above anything in Pitchfork’s playlist.


Web site: Industrial Records

16. Pieces of Juno – Tacenda/Kalopsia

Norway’s Pieces of Juno released not one but two albums this year. Tacenda and Kalopsia each would have made our list on their own, but together they demonstrate the vitality of Norway’s most promising young artist.

We were treated first to Kalopsia, the “red” piece, which has been nominated for a national prize in Norway. Tacenda, the “blue” piece, followed later in the year. The songs on both albums had been written at the same time, but were sorted by Juno into different releases based upon their feel, setting up a duality that is reflected in their artwork and in Juno’s wigs.

In any event, both albums feel as smooth as stockings being drawn along shaven skin. Not that we would know anything about that, but Juno’s jazzy, trip-hopping sound is both sensual and seductive. The voice of Anana on a cover of Elysian Fields’ “Black Acres,” intoning, “I need to have this little death” – you know the French saying – just adds layers to this picture.

Juno calls her style “Northern Noir,” and it is as good a way as any to describe the sound coming from the speakers. Somewhere between Portishead and Nick Cave, with minor key images emerging from the darkness, with these releases Pieces of Juno has crafted a magical sonic diptych.


Web site: Pieces of Juno

15. Black Line – Treason, Sedition and Subversive Activities

An electronic super-group to rival The Traveling Wilburys, Black Line has a core team in Douglas J. McCarthy (Nitzer Ebb, Fixmer/McCarthy, DJM REX) and Cyrusrex (DJM/REX), and it draws in a long list of collaborators: Bon Harris (Nitzer Ebb), Jason Payne (Nitzer Ebb), Ken ‘hiwatt’ Marshall (Skinny Puppy, DJM/REX), Paul Barker (Ministry/Revolting Cocks), Jon Bates (Big Black Delta), Zack Meyers (Fear of Ghosts), Brad Apodaca (Fear of Ghosts), Anthony Baldino and Michael prophei Dietel (Annodalleb).

The first album from Black Line is completely funked up. “Shut It Down” provides a growling, groovy slice of EBM with McCarthy’s voice scraping like a strop razor over a stomping beat. It out-hammers Nine Inch Nails.

“Changed” comes as a mix from Venetian Snares, adding a touch of Prairie grit. There is plenty of experimental and industrial styling on Treason, Sedition and Subversive Activities, and it is great to hear McCarthy in a fighting mood again.

Black Line are opening for Depeche Mode on the next leg of the European Spirit tour.


Web site: Black Line

14. Parralox – Holiday ’17

Parralox‘s seasonal collections are always heavily anticipated, and the release of Holiday ’17 more than lives up to expectations.

John von Ahlen has a gifted ear for classic synth sounds, and his choice of material is always speaker candy for electronic music fans.

Holiday ’17 comes with covers of The Assembly’s “Stop/Start,” Human League’s “The Dignity of Labour” and Depeche Mode’s “Shine” and “Fools.” Even Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” gets a Parralox makeover.

The real treat is a subversive version of the traditional Christmas song, “O Tannenbaum,” with Katja Kassel guesting. Kassel’s breathy German vocals recall Marlene Dietrich, while von Ahlen’s electronics are playful; toying with the classic to emphasise Kassel’s poise.

Web site: Parralox

13. Goldfrapp – Silver Eye

Goldfrapp - Silver Eye Goldfrapp’s performance at Glastonbury was the kind of jaw dropping event that students discuss between classes the next day.

“Did you see…?”

“Yes! She was amazing!”

Alison Goldfrapp still has one of the best voices in Britain – up there with Jane Caley, for sure – and the show was a mad masterclass in stagecraft. If Madonna was watching, she would have bitten through her lower lip.

What Goldfrapp did live and on the new album, Silver Eye, was avoid the trap of rehashing Kraftwerk or early Human League styles that many synthpop heroes fell into. The results have been outstanding.


Web site: Goldfrapp

12. Anna Öberg – härsknar NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR!

One of the surprises of 2017 was the arrival of Sweden’s Anna Öberg. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Öberg stunned the electronic music scene with a cutting-edge release designer-made for alternative dancefloors.

Tracks like “Sin mamma” [EN: “Their Mother”] channeled the spirit of Danielle Dax, while “5 minuter” [EN: “5 Minutes”] and “Allt är ägt” [EN: “Everything Is Owned”] went in a harder direction.

“Härsknar” means “rancid” in Swedish, but this was an album with a fresh feel. Produced by Öberg with Charles Storm, it breathed some life back into dark wave in 2017.


Web site: Anna Öberg on Bandcamp

11. UUUU – UUUU

A sonic supergroup, formed from artists connected to Coil, Wire, Dome and Tomaga? Yes, please.

UUUU is the combination of Edvard Graham Lewis, Thighpaulsandra, Matthew Simms and Valentina Magaletti. Their self-titled debut album is a bonkers mixture of krautrock, experimentation, antipop and improvisation.

There must be a trend for songs over 15 minutes – see Frogmore, below – but we’re not arguing for stricter time limits when the material is as interesting as “Five Gates.” The piece we were really struck by, however, is “Verlagerung, Verlagerung, Verlagerung,” a track that could have been mapped out in Conny Plan’s kitchen.

UUUU have live shows coming up in 2018 and we can’t wait.


Web site: Editions Mego

10. Wire – Silver/Lead

Wire never fail to disappoint, and they opened the year with another compelling release.

Silver/Lead is Wire’s fifteenth studio album. In our review, we noted that it comes an adult lifetime after their initial outing:

Forty years later, Silver/Lead shows Wire emerging from the lab on the front foot, turning out the kind of material that the dream-pop set can only dream about. From the delightfully retro sleeve to the cleverer-than-a-chemist lyrics, Wire continue to hold their ground. Over their four decades as a combo, they haven’t blown with the trends of the times, nor have they been stopped by line-up changes, time apart and a near-fatal experiment with drum machines. The new album continues the pattern by drawing on the strands of psychedelia that were hinted at on last year’s Nocturnal Koreans mini-album and infusing them with a sense of groove.

Because Wire are at their most awesome live, we’ve dug out this clip from KEXP with some of the new material:


Web site: Pink Flag

9. Rico C – Frogmore

Frogmore didn’t get the attention it deserved, but we predict that the first solo album from Rico Conning will be a slow burner.

You will recognise Conning from his work as a producer and engineer at Guerilla Studios and for Mute Records (Martin Gore, Frank Tovey, Laibach – it’s a long list), but he knows how to make stunningly creative material of his own.

We were taken by songs like “Fluxus” and “Mercury” that were too long for commercial radio but we didn’t want to end. Frogmore is an album of dream-like grooves that carry you along with them like leaves in the current, and the journey is as interesting as the destination.


Web site: Rico's Reel (blog)

8. Jean-Marc Lederman – The Space Between Worlds

We didn’t finish our review of The Space Between Worlds earlier this year – sorry – but from the moment the boxed CD came through the letterbox it has been a regular feature at CWNL HQ.

When it comes on, there is always a moment of, “Who is that?” Rediscovering Jean-Marc Lederman’s latest album is a joy, because it sounds fresh every time. From the buzzing electronic arc of “Enter the Dragonette,” through the whimsical “Map of the World,” and on to the reverb-heavy touch of “A Darker Snare,” it is an album filled with an exciting experimental spirit.

The Space Between Worlds is Sunday night music: just right to listen to with a snifter and headphones while the world sits still.


Web site: Jean-Marc Lederman on Bandcamp

7. DAF – Das Ist DAF

The original EBM godfathers, DAF, reissued a selection of four albums in a deluxe format this year.

The set included Die Kleinen und die Bösen, Alles ist Gut, Gold und Liebe and Für Immer – all albums that a DAF fan already owns and adores. However, even if they have  listened to “Kebabträume” and “Goldenes Spielzeug” a million times before, there is nothing bad about refreshing the vinyl and adding a slip mat to the collection.

The real treat, however, was a 12” of new mixes from Giorgio Moroder and Boys Noize and a 7″ single with unreleased tracks. They might not have change lives, but their arrival certainly lifted moods.

We spotted DAF’s Robert Görl in one of the year’s most interesting films – the biography of Conny Plank. The scenes he shot with the famous producer and engineer’s son were particularly poignant. This trailer has a short clip with Görl at 1:01 that fans will appreciate:


Web site: Groenland

6. Psyche – Youth of Tomorrow

A new Psyche release is always welcome, but we were very happy when “Youth of Tomorrow” landed. It was heralded by a video that played on a series of 1980s music and television tropes: double-breasted shirts, Michael Jackson gangs and Tony Scott lighting among them.

The 80s have become a cultural archive to be excavated by synthwave enthusiasts and Netflix thrillers. It is fitting, therefore, that one of the original dark wave artists should dig themselves out first.

“Youth of Tomorrow” is great fun, but the flip comes with a serious message. “Truth or Consequence” is about the surveillance state and its discontents. Take it from Darrin:

Your life is on trial
There’s a price on your head
You’re gonna have to pay
For all you’ve given away
The security is all in your mind
You know the safety in numbers
Is making us blind
Your life is on trial
Don’t stand a chance


Web site: Psyche

5. Rein – Freedoom

Rein announced that she is taking 2018 off, following a driving tour schedule to promote Freedoom.

We will miss the Stockholm-based chanteuse, because she has single-handedly reinvigorated the EBM genre.

The Freedoom EP won’t be matched by Rein’s contemporaries anytime soon. With tracks like “Missfit” and the chantable spelling song, “C.A.P.I.T.A.L.I.S.M.,” Rein gave us something to think about as well as dance to.

Come back soon, Rein – music needs your kick up the backside.

4. Black Needle Noise – Lost in Reflections

John Fryer relocated from Oslo to LA this year, but the move to a warmer climate didn’t interrupt the flow of excellent releases from his Black Needle Noise project.

Lost in Reflections, BNN’s most recent collection, continues the pattern of excellent and mind-bending collaborations between Fryer and a long list of accomplished vocalists.

We’ve said before that BNN is the spiritual successor to This Mortal Coil, and Fryer has consistently proven the point.

What makes BNN interesting is the spin that the singers bring to the project. Take the alternately soothing and soaring vocals of Kite Base’s Kendra Frost on “Warning Sign.” Frost’s voice is simply stunning, while Fryer’s instrumentation and production are both elegant and dynamic. Ivo might have retired to live in the desert, while 4AD has become just another hit-seeking label, but Fryer is keeping the true flame of This Mortal Coil alive by letting the human voice have a space of its own.

We love the contribution of Jennie Vee on “Heaven.” Vee recently joined The Eagles of Death Metal as their bassist, but she also has a history of making dreampop material of exceptional quality. “Heaven” finds her in a darker, very personal space, and the results are magnificent.

There are also contributions from Front Line Assembly’s Bill Leeb, Andrea Kerr, Delerium collaborator Mimi Page, Omniflux, Zialand, Ana Breton and Sivert Høyem. Each has its own, distinctive qualities, but the collection is held together by Fryer’s sublime production.


Web site: Black Needle Noise on Bandcamp

3. Kite Base – Latent Whispers

Kite Base is as close as you can get to the pulse of London’s alternative sound.

Throbbing basslines, rhythms that tense and release like muscles, vocals both sapphic and seraphic – this is music from the core. Pity the finger-snapping hipsters from the suburbs who are trying to impress each other with clones of Phoebe from Friends.

After seeing the band live, it was no surprise to find that Latent Whispers is a mighty debut album. Dueling bassists, a drum machine and one of the strongest vocalists we’ve heard combine to perform sturdy tracks with a deep sense of groove. It’s like indie-funk fuelled by Irn Bru.


Web site: Kite Base

2. Lau Nau – Poseidon

Finland’s Lau Nau is one of Europe’s most interesting artists. She crosses bridges between folk, experimentation and chamber music with ease, and her output is a dream for movie makers.

Poseidon is Lau Nau’s follow up to Hem. Någonstans, the soundtrack to the eponymous film. It’s an antipodean partner to that album, filled with sounds and feelings drawn from warmer days. We found that the best musical signposts were somewhere between Virginia Astley, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Sigur Rós, but Lau Nau’s sound is both original and daring.

We expect that this will end up in a Hollywood music consultant’s bag of surprises sooner rather than later.


Web site: Lau Nau

1. Page – Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld Men Det Råkar Vara Så Det Ser Utt  ALBUM OF THE YEAR!

Sweden’s poptronica pioneers started as a singles band, but after three decades of work have honed the album format to perfection.

Det Är Ingen Vacker Värld… is Page’s meisterwerk. Eddie Bengtsson’s compositions out-Numan Numan with Moog filters and angular phrasing, but the secret to the album’s success is its pop intentions.

“Tid För En Kyss” is knock-out poptronica. No one else is writing songs like “Lägger Av.” Page’s formula is one part integrity and two parts audacity, and the combination puts the band streets ahead of its competitors.

Known as Sweden’s Vince Clarke, Bengtsson is fearless in his pursuit of pure poptronica. There is no auto-tune on any of the vocals. No concessions are made to the demands of hit radio. All of the tracks are made with authentic Moogs. The sounds are crafted without presets and reach straight for your hips.

You don’t have to dance, but if you don’t then you’ll have missed all the fun.


Web site: Hot Stuff

 

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Mari & The Ghost Channel the Spirit of Radio

by coldwarnightlife
written by coldwarnightlife

Jean-Marc Lederman has several incarnations. The Belgian composer and musician is sometimes known as one-half of The Weathermen, or as Kid Montana, depending on the style of music or collaborator of the moment. In his guise as The Ghost, he has previously appeared with Frank Spinath (Seabound) in Ghost & Writer and on a single with Mari Kattman as Mari & The Ghost. The latter project has now grown into a full album, showing off Lederman’s synthpop credentials and Kattman’s dream-like vocals.

Superstitions traces an arc through the spectrum of radio-friendly poptronica. From the opening of “Satellite,” the album unfolds with grace and poise. There is something of a Sarah McLachlan feel to Kattman’s contributions, which will draw comparisons to parts of Delirium’s catalogue, but there are also hints of Madonna’s Ray of Light period. In part, this comes from Kattman’s background as a choral singer, but her style as a lead vocalist is as much about creating atmosphere as it is telling a story.

The stand-out track on the album is a song that has already been issued as a single. “Wolves” trips along with a deceptively simple synth line over a bubbling sequence, carried by rhythms and pads, while Kattman’s voice soars overhead. It’s the restraint shown by Lederman’s production, allowing the tension to build within the track, that is its main strength – a feat repeated throughout the album. The lack of bombast compresses the material and maintains interest across ten tracks of classy synthpop.

Out now on Bandcamp.

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