Artist: Dark Minimal Project
Title: Pleasure is a Sin
Genre: Electro-Darkwave / Coldwave / Synth Wave
Release Date: 26th September 2025
Label: infacted recordings
Album Review
With ‘Pleasure is a Sin’, DARK MINIMAL PROJECT (DMP) drop their third studio album - and it’s the Lille duo at their most mature, but also their darkest. Where ‘Ghost of Modern Times’ (2023) thrived on technical finesse and a more open, atmospheric vibe, Guillaume Vanderosieren and Ange Vesper, working with producer Peter Rainman, now deliver something tighter, heavier and more compact. The sound bounces between Electro-Darkwave, Synth-Pop and dancefloor-ready 80s energy, but always feels fresh and modern.
The opener ‘Staring Away’ sets the tone with sleek Synth Wave lines - a track about disappointment and pulling away, built on almost hymn-like catchiness. In ‘My Veins’ takes things inward: whispered verses about addiction and inner conflict clash with a soaring, urgent chorus. ‘Promise Land’ continues the thread, painting a world where trust is fragile and honesty rare.
Then comes a real shift: ‘Spoke to the Devil’ puts Ange in the spotlight as lead vocalist. Packed with 80s flavour, club drive and a cheeky nod to facing your demons, it’s an instant dance-floor hit. The contrast is ‘So Far Away’ - a stripped-back Synth-Pop ballad that closes with a bell outro and Guillaume’s heartfelt delivery, one of the album’s most emotional peaks.
‘Frozen Times’ picks up the pace again, before ‘Blanc & Noir’ unleashes the record’s most club-oriented side. Ange sings in French here, which not only adds variety but also a hypnotic, trance-like pull - a play of light and shadow that really sticks. ‘Time Runs Out’ leans poppier, but its lyrics still circle around fragility and impermanence.
The cover of JOHN FOXX’ ‘This City’ is a smart choice: DMP channel the original’s urban alienation but reframe it in their own, danceable aesthetic. ‘Give Me an Angel’ mixes seductive melodies with the motif of a fallen angel - temptation as the album’s running thread. Finally, ‘The Great Fall’ closes the record with pounding drums and shimmering keys, embracing the 80s legacy one last time while tying together the album’s grand theme: the fall, the tug-of-war between guilt and desire.
All in all, ‘Pleasure is a Sin’ isn’t an album that chases quick thrills - it reveals itself layer by layer. Some tracks click instantly, others take a few spins to truly sink in. There’s no single track that blows everything else away, which you could call a weakness - but it also makes the record feel more cohesive, stronger as a whole than in parts.
After their debut ‘Cold Black Room’ (2022) and the successful ‘Ghost of Modern Times’, DARK MINIMAL PROJECT now show a different face: darker, sharper, more determined. Rainman’s fingerprints help push them up a level, and ‘Pleasure is a Sin’ ends up as exactly what it aims to be - a solid, atmospheric album with 80s shimmer that’s worth coming back to again and again.
Tracklist
01. Staring Away
02. In My Veins
03. Promiseland
04. Spoke To The Devil
05. So Far Away
06. Frozen Times
07. Blanc & Noir
08. Time Runs Out
09. This City
10. Give Me An Angel
11. The Great Fall
Line-up
Guillaume VDR - Author/Composer, Keyboards, Programming & Voice
Ange Vesper - Author/Composer, Keyboards, Drum Pad & Voice
Website
https://www.darkminimalproject.com / https://www.facebook.com/DarkMinimalProject
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7 / 10
