Bit longer between posts than I would have liked, I just haven't had the energy to sit down and write anything, but that's because this week has been shite to put it mildly. And there's still one more day to go which is also shaping up to be the final shit cherry on top of the shit sundae. But let's not dwell on that too much, you don't come here to listen to me whine after all. Hot off the heels of last post, I've been revisiting the electronic pop of my collection, let's have a look.
Kicking off with a record I'm surprised I haven't mentioned more - Young Ejecta (FKA just 'Ejecta'). The duo had been on my 'to listen' list for ages after looking deeper into the discogs of Joel Ford, as I looked for something to scratch my Ford & Lopatin itch. Dominae isn't quite in the same retro vein as the Ford & Lopatin record, but its a lovely slice of the kind of electropop I really dig. Small Town Girl is the one I've had on repeat recently - the intro is a little bit darker than the main event, the switch up in sound around the 23 second mark is lovely, the electronics are lush and Leanne Macomber's breathy vocals compliment them really well. The uptempo switch around 1:10 also never fails to get me toe tapping, there are tons of great moments like that scattered throughout the album actually! I've not got around to their other LPs yet so expect them to make an appearance when I get to them.
What would an synth/electropop post be without Au Revior Simone? They're the usual suspects whenever I talk around this space, I love their style and their albums have been a great source for when I need to scratchy that synthy poppy itch. I've gone with a non-album tune this time, Come Away is a one-off released a couple of years ago now, though it originally debuted at David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption in 2018. It, and it's sister one-off release How Long are the most recent things we've heard from them, and while I ache for more from there, there is plenty in their back-catalogue to get stuck into. Come Away gets a little lost in my collection by virtue of it being in this single format, but when it does come up, its a real good time - the chorus is delightfully dreamy.
Taking a bit of a turn away form the pure electronic for the next one - another band I'm surprised I haven't mentioned before: Trembling Blue Stars. My first introduction was Sometimes I Still Feel The Bruise, which is one of those songs that for me was brutally relatable in its lyrical content - the Blue Stars' output does have that streak of melancholy running throughout most of it (though ironically not on No More Sad Songs, the original final track from the album I'll be talking about today). I feel like Fast Trains And Telegraph Wires strikes a nice balance between the electronic and acoustic, Cold Colours comes out feeling a little bit retro as a result, twinned with lyrics dealing with being ghosted makes for a suitably dour experience, especially given the week I've had.
One more to see us out, I've gone back to Helen Marnie of Ladytron's first solo album (as one reviewer cleverly put it, Lady, without the Tron). It's incredibly hard to avoid drawing comparisons between the two, given Marnie's contributions to Ladytron. Not to diminish her solo effort though, the record does have it's own distinct and different identity than a Ladytron record - but at the same time if you like Ladytron, you will like this LP as well. Slick electronics are the order of the day on Crystal World, and the opening duet of The Hunter and We Are The Sea makes for a stellar opening to the album, but I've talked about The Hunter before so I'm going with the latter this time. Crystal World does a fantastic job of displaying Marnie's songwriting: lots of creative rhymes and an interesting rhythm to the delivery makes her vocal as much a highlight as the electronics.
And that'll be all for this time, apologies for the slight delay but hopefully this makes up for it a little bit! I still have a couple of half finished posts in the archives I might try and spruce up, but I may put a few other smaller ones in there as well just for exercise. But enough about the internal runnings of the site - I hope you find some tunes here you really dig and as always: Stay safe an enjoy the music.
-CVF
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