Title: Crossroads
Band: Mind.in.a.Box
Genre: Electro
Release Date: 31st August 2007
Label: Dependent Records
Introduction
The Austrian electronic duo MIND.IN.A.BOX created their own niche inside the electronic music scene. Their unique blend of different styles has conquered the hearts and minds of fans and press all over the world in a storm and is meanwhile known as techno pop. The name MIND.IN.A.BOX is a metaphor “for everything that prevents our Minds from truly being free”. The duo was signed to Dependent in 2004 and released their first Album ‘Lost alone’ in June of the same year, followed by its successor ‘Dreamweb’ in May 2005.Over 2 years after the release of ‘Dreamweb’ their new Album ‘Crossroads’ will finally hit the streets at the end of August and the story continues....
Members
Stefan Poiss – Production, Arrangements, Vocals
Markus Hadwiger - Lyrics
Website
http://www.mindinabox.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/mindinabox
Track Review
01. Introspection - 4:04
A low synth and one sentence “two days ago I woke up underwater”. That’s all you hear before hell breaks loose without a warning. Accompanied by a heavy break beat and wide synth layers, the deep voice tells us a story. It is more a spoken-word performance than real singing, but it fits perfectly to the song and its atmosphere.
02. Amnesia - 7:20
“I feel like I have amnesia, but I know it's myself I've lost” - just one line out of that song. The character is trying to remember why he suddenly woke up in a shabby flat with cracks, torn-off tiles and wires hanging out of the wall. At the same time it seems he doesn't want to know much of his past. “I'm not sure I want to know any of the things I've done”. He senses that he has done some terrible things in his past. The song spreads a very cold atmosphere. It has, what I call, the 'Lost alone' feeling. It also reminds me a little bit of 'Change'. During the chorus the song develops further and further. Layer after layer appears and also strings join in. The mood is different from the verses. Simply brilliant!!!
03. Into the Night - 7:13
Just further with another very long song. 'Into the Night' is a song I really can't get into yet. Maybe this needs more time. The lyrics in this song are performed like spoken word. The only lines are sung are in the chorus and appear many times in this track. The music in this song only seems to exist to accentuate the story that's been told .It consists of e very strong beat and a dominating synth line.
04. Identity - 5:43
'Identity' is a quite danceable track. It starts right away with the drums and synth layers and then the chant starts. It deals with the inner conflict of the protagonist. On one hand he wasn't satisfied with the way his life went but it was painless “my thoughts they were never mine, but there was no need to scream”. On the other hand the wish to break new ground and to get out “I want to cut off all my ties, I need to break through all the ice”. Well done Boys!!!
05. Lucid Dreams 1 - 0:23
A short interlude “why was I so afraid? Night was not afraid...”
06. Fear - 5:59
A clinking synth melody that sounds as if it comes from deep underwater and that also will be the leading melody. A voice that is not from this world. Those two parts guide you through the verses and soon a playful rhythmic construction appears on the scene. During the chorus or that what seems to be the chorus, you will notice a sudden change in the vocals. They are heavily pitched and processed so the almost sound like female vocals. The vocals are also surrounded by dense strings and pads.
07. Stalkers - 6:13
Have you ever had the feeling to be followed? The protagonist is fully aware of the fact that he's followed. The story in 'Stalkers' is told from 2 different perspectives. During the verses we hear the heavily processed voice of the main character “I can feel them always right behind, casting a shadow on my mind” and when the chorus starts, we hear the deep voice of the followers “We know who it is we want, we have a collective mind, we don't miss a singlestep, we're always right behind”. The drums a very layered and diverse but nevertheless danceable and the synths are always bleeping which gives the Song a retro feeling.
08. What used to be - 7:56
Now we're coming to one of my favourite songs on the album. This is also the longest track on ‘Crossroads’. MIND.IN.A.BOX are fortunately able to fill it with enough diversity, so it never gets boring. The monotonous and pumping beat is beefed up with some really nice sounds and effects. There’s also a great atmosphere in that song that is created with different synth layers and a very varied chant.
09. The Place - 5:48
A beautiful slow-ish and dreamy ballad. First there’s only this wonderful piano part that immediately carries you away, the further the song develops the lauder the wide synth layers get and suddenly you hear Stefan’s clean voice floating on a sea of atmospheric synths that will cause you goose bumps for sure. Later also slow drums appear. Stefan’s vocal performance is also worth to mention because it's really impressive and very intense.
10. Redefined - 5:03
From a balladry track, we now come to a faster and more danceable track. 'Redefined' remind me a lot of ‘Machine Run’ from 'Dreamweb' especially in the bridge “I will kill the machine, because it has to be done”. It also seems like a breakthrough for the protagonist. “I have found my new life...”
Many frisky sounds have been integrated into this track. Some of them even sound like C64 Sounds.
11. Lucid Dreams 2 - 0:19
“There it was up ahead. And I was not afraid anymore...”
12. Crossroads - 5:24
The title track of this album is a great club anthem and will surely appear in many DJ sets all over the world. It has all the requirements, necessary for that that. A demanding and pumping beat, reinforced with some crunchy and distorted synth effects, that encourages dancing. We have different moods expressed through the various processing of the voice and also a multi layered string arrangement for the atmosphere.
13. Run for your Life - 4:29
The final track, according to Stefan Poiss, also functions as a bridge to the next album. Very slow but constantly, a wide synth gets audibly, just to get replaced by a classical arrangement. After a short period of time, a very fractured and break-beat like drum arrangement appears that makes the song “almost” danceable.
Cover Picture
Technical Information
Total Tracks: 13
Total Playing time: 65:48
Extras: Code to unlock additional and unreleased Material
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9
Conclusion
They made it again. MIND.IN.A.BOX created an Album that combines the advantages of both of its predecessors 'Lost alone' and ‘Dreamweb’. Still there are those sounds that are already a trademark for them, for example the processed voice of Stefan Poiss to create and display different emotional conditions and moods. They really managed to bring back that unique atmosphere of ‘Lost alone’ in some of the tracks and that’s truly awesome. The MIND.IN.A.BOX universe is not reduced to music. There’s a complete Sci-Fi story that began with 'Lost alone', proceeded with 'Dreamweb' and now finds once more its continuation with 'Crossroads' and there’s still no end in sight. According to Stefan Poss, MIND.IN.A.BOX won't cease to exist after Dependent closes down. They will continue to produce and release music. So let's hope they will find a good Label very soon. Last but not least the artwork deserves to be mentioned. It was created by Ingo Roemling and is a mixture of 3D Graphics and traditional drawn pictures. The booklet also contains a short story written by the Austrian Science fiction author Andreas Gruber and a code to unlock additional stuff.
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