Artist: Noblesse Oblige
Title: Affair Of The Heart
Genre: Electro Art Pop Noir
Release Date: 24th May 2013
Label: Repo Records
Album Review
Berlin based electro duo NOBLESSE OBLIGE have created quite a buzz around the release of ‘Affair Of The Heart’. The secret to ripping off Eighties synth-pop is to sound like you’ve just invented it, and there’s enough of that here to make this a relevant release in 2013. Helped generously on its way with the single ‘Mata Hari’, their sound is a heady mix of dance, lush harmonies and exotic textures. The song itself is all Eastern promise, a shimmying belly-dance seductively beckoning and gesturing, all wrapped up erotically in the warm vocals of Valerie Renay. Second single ‘Runaway’ is a pacier affair, Sebastian Lee Philips joining on vocals for a late night drive through a rainy neon night. All good so far.
Drum machine and bleeps on ‘Chasing Shadows’ are inspired, though by ‘Break Your Heart’ there’s a bit of sameness creeping in. But the dark and woozy ‘Vagabonde’ ratchets up the drama and is an excellent dance track with a memorable vocal. Unfortunately, when Renay isn’t on vocal duties, interest dips as Philipps has a rather non-descript singing style, although on ‘In The Heat Of The Night’ he ably whispers along to a fine pulse of electronica. A dodgy cover of THE EAGLES ‘Hotel California’ at least has the decency to sound absolutely nothing like the original, but it’s still feels unnecessary here. ‘Voices In My Head’ rounds things off, minimal instrumentation and distorted voices giving way to some finely textured atmospherics, a gentle beat at the half-way mark perking this up into ROYKSOPP territory, and it’s a lovely way to end.
On the whole, this album works well and is a good length, and in ‘Mata Hari’ NOBLESSE OBLIGE have discovered and perfected a formula that bodes well for future releases.
Tracklist
01. Mata Hari
02. Runaway
03. Burn
04. Chasing Shadows
05. Break Your Heart
06. Vagabonde
07. The Seventh Wave
08. In The Heat Of The Night
09. Hotel California
10. Voices In My Head
Line-up
Sebastian Lee Philipp
Valerie Renay
Website
https://www.facebook.com/noblesseobligeofficial / http://www.noblesseoblige.co.uk/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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