Title: Remote
Artist: Midnight Resistance
Genre: Electro Pop
Release Date: 19th September 2008
Label: A Different Drum
Album Review
Former REACTIVATE member Nico F. founded MIDNIGHT RESISTANCE beginning of 2007 after he’d left the mentioned band and soon started working on songs for a debut release which would eventually become ‘Remote’.
A road somewhere in an abandoned landscape; disappearing in the distance and covered by a sky of darkened clouds. That’s the picture that graces the cover of ‘Remote’ and so the album can be seen as a journey through various places and memories all connected by the omnipresent melancholy afflicted to them. First stop is the ‘Edge of Time’ drowning the listener with swathes of deepest melancholy merged with a straight danceable beat to provide something for the dancers as well ‘Nothing will stay the same’. In terms of danceability, the two following tracks ‘Recall these Days’ and ‘Second Skin’ have some say as well both of which put much more pressure onto the beats. While ‘Recall These Days’ relies on widely layered synth washes to culminate in a atmospherically dense finale, ‘Second Skin’ specifies on a constant current of icy soundscapes in combination with slightly rocking guitar parts (also played by Nico btw). But enough now with all those danceable stuff, let’s come to a genuine ballad with ‘House of Cards’ which is just as fragile as the title suggests and you fear it would all sink in if you just make a rash move. The ballad builds up quietly from a distant sonic entity over a minimalist part to an emotionally charged chorus with moaning choirs and subdued guitars to end as quiet a sit began after almost 6 minutes with a piano outro.
‘Wide Awake’ which is following right after it returns to the more danceable structures and it also displays a close connection to the 80s in my opinion. I know many artists in the electronic pop genre don’t like that connection being made, but especially the vocals on the track sometimes remind me of DEPECHE MODE apart from that it’s a very appealing blend of wide atmospherics woven over some trance leads and lots of electronic gadgetry. The rising ‘Phoenix’ more or less follows in the same footsteps though the rhythm patterns here are a bit crisper. With ‘The Vision and the Enigma’ also an instrumental piece found its way onto ‘Remote’ that starts with a kind of threatening sound collage to take a sudden turn to enter dreamy realms of majestic strings in which also a little wave has its right to exist. A very organic appearing ‘Scars from falling down’ that, with eclectic electronic and (is it a distorted bass?) closes the circle.
‘Remote’ is an album that plays a lot with melancholic and dense atmospheres, maybe that’s the reason why I’ve come to like it in the first place. People with a soft spot for this and with a little affinity to danceable rhythms should check this one out. It works just as well on the dance floor as it does at home. A successful debut!
Tracklist
01. Edge of Time – 6:19
02. Recall These Days – 6:25
03. Second Skin – 5:22
04. House of Cards – 5:39
05. Wide Awake – 5:54
06. Phoenix – 5:26
07. A Tear in Every Moment – 4:38
08. The Vision and the Enigma – 2:38
09. Cold Reading – 5:30
10. Scars From Falling Down – 7:20
11. Second Skin (Sidechain Remix) – 4:08
12. A Tear in Every Moment (People Theatre Mix) – 7:18
Line-up
Nico F. – Songwriting, Synthesizers, Guitars, Vocals, Lyrics, Production
Website
http://www.myspace.com/themidnightresistance
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Extras: -
Total: 8
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