Artist: Adam Is A Girl
Title: Now Or Never
Genre: Synth Pop
Release Date: 5th June 2020
Label: recordJet
Album Review
As spontaneous I got asked if I’d like to write about this new piece of music, as spontaneous I said “well, yes!”. It’s been just a few months ago that I had the chance to see ADAM IS A GIRL live on stage and I fell immediately in love with their shining and energetic live presence. The performance on the ship at the Autumn Moon Festival felt indeed very intimate, as the first rows were just sitting on the ground in front of the space reserved for the artists - not even a stage, just a space in front of the audience with a pretty low ceiling and a whole lot of magic that filled the ship in just a few minutes.
‘Now Or Never’ is the second album of the Berlin-based trio ADAM IS A GIRL. The band decided to go for a crowdfunding campaign to finance the release and succeeded as we now can see the result. Though for sure they did not plan to release it in the mid of a pandemic, the band just announced some shows in December 2020 (check out their band page for the dates). And there is nothing more to say as we all hope that these shows can happen.
The intro song ‘Before We Drown’ catches immediately the attention and takes the listener by the hand into the music world that ADAM IS A GIRL are creating on their 2nd long-player. A spherical track with many flowing layers presenting the synth magic in an elusive way. The song ends a bit too sudden, followed by a short moment of silence and the second track ‘Mercy Of The Waves’ hits in with a very different attitude than one might expect after the intro. A strong up-tempo track with a pinch of 80ies Synth Rock & Pop - confident, fresh and a bit of cheekiness. ‘Up And Down’ is way calmer, down-to-earth and absolutely soft and dreamy. The guitar and Anja’s voice create a safe space - a place to close your eyes and forget everything around.
‘Walk On The Water’ sounds so clear and innocent. Calm, fragile and faraway. ‘Insomnia’ was released as first single mid-May and what shall I say - this is one of these song we desperately need in times like these (and these times are crazy, indeed) - engaging track, strongly growing, spreading a whole lot of magic energy - almost like a hymn, I’d say. ‘Until It’s Far Away’ is once more playing with layers of sounds and vocals. Also, this song sounds quite different and makes it not that easy to recognize ADAM IS A GIRL. Also, it’s a bit like a bridge in between and ending a bit suddenly after little more than two minutes - I kind of fell I’d be curious to hear a more extended version of this one.
‘Sober’ is darker than the previous songs on this album. Anja shows a huge spectrum of her vocal skills - after about 1:30 minutes the song is turning into an up-tempo song and cannot help myself, there is an early MADONNA reference in my head which is pretty cool. ‘Young Hearts’ is an almost instrumental Electro track - could be played at your next rave (waiting impatiently for them all to happen again). ‘Command Your Ship (Interlude)’ is this kind of a fight Synth piece I really enjoyed but then it was suddenly over after a minute - another bridge? ‘Goodbye Berlin’ - 80ies are back and awesome as they are. Hell yes, this is awesome 80ies Synth Rock. It was also chosen to be a single and together with ‘Insomnia’ shows pretty well the diversity of the release. And so suddenly the last song is here - ‘We Are One’ is a melancholic ballad that closes ‘Now Or Never’.
‘Now Or Never’ shows an amazing variety of influences, styles and moods. I only wish some of them would get more extended versions - the 32 minutes are full with great songs, filled with influences from different decades and genres - the created world is fragile, strong, engaging the desire to dance and creating a dream away atmosphere at the same time. A really strong and refreshing record worth listening.
Tracklist
01. Before We Drown (Intro)
02. Mercy Of The Waves
03. Up And Down
04. Walk On The Water
05. Insomnia
06. Until It’s Far Away
07. Sober
08. Young Hearts
09. Command Your Ship (Interlude)
10. Goodbye Berlin
11. We Are One
Line-up
Anja Adam
Alex Pierschel
Shakya Sunil
Website
https://www.adamisagirl.com / https://www.facebook.com/adamisagirl
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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