melnyk - silence
prior to listening to this album lets just flip to the credits : '"produced by melnyk and performed entirely on electronic instruments"
i love that declaration, whether it's a kickback from all those real rock albums where the phrase no keyboards were used in the making of this album (queen and audioslave are 2 examples of such snobbery), i have no idea. but it's ace, as is the album. recently there has been a lot of love for electro @ ireallylovemusic hq, from the spiky pop of goldfrapp, the glammed up rachel stevens, or the darker mutant strain a la dj hell and his various protégés. but this is different. melnyk obviously loves the 80's sound, but not in the same way that les rhythmes digitales, instead the sounds that are used here are big, fat and warm synths recalling the golden tones of pet shop boys, heaven 17, and the more sublime moments of human league. the melodies are rich and detailed, with love for sonic depth clear from the start. most of the album is a fairly straightforward, but beautiful, take on dance-trance-pop genre, but with a few beautiful twists and turns to keep the level of interest on the right side of good, for example the choral samples adding layers of religious guilt to 'christlike' amongst the vangelis/jon carpenter synthesiser ambience, the spoken dialogue during the pulsating 'art of seduction' invoking memories of the dark pop of propaganda.
as well as the pleasant rolling arpeggios and sequencers that dominate the music, there are a couple of proper pop songs spread across the albums 10 tracks, strut, sound of falling, and fabulous (check website for very moody video for this piece of electro filled soap opera), all featuring vocals record label boss sara berg, who adds an element of drama, suspense, and all round class to the proceedings.