Artist: Solitary Experiments
Title: Transcendent
Genre: Electronic / Synth Pop / Future Pop
Release Date: 28th October 2022
Label: Out Of Line Music
Album Review
SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS have stood for catchy, rich and melodic Electro sounds for almost 30 years and have long been an integral part of the Electro / Gothic scene. With their last studio album ‘Future Tense’ (2018), the band once again demonstrated their full range of expertise in their own field. And now they come with their excellent eighth full-length album, ‘Transcendent’. “…we wanted to sound familiar but also break new ground a bit. For the first time there will be guest singers...” says the band’s homepage. And yes, ‘Transcendent’ sounds familiar and yet different. In the past few days, I’ve been lucky to hear the three DCs extensively.
With ‘Wonderland’ the album starts with a dense, melodic track with sing-along factor. At the same time, the song carries a certain seriousness. A very successful start. ‘Heart Of Stone’ is a bit darker and combines discreetly distorted vocals by Dennis Schober with wonderful backing vocals by Olivia Heidenreich (BLIND PASSENGER / 80s EXPRESS). With the first pre-release ‘Every Now And Then’ follows an uplifting dancefloor anthem, very catchy and danceable, with smooth and soft vocals. It has everything that makes a hit. ‘Head Over Heels’ comes along with proper drive and almost banging drums. Future Pop at its best! The social critical ‘Zeitgeist’ with an attitude reminiscent of aggressive Industrial forms a clear contrast. The angry, shouted vocals by guest singer Dirk Ivens (DIVE) have slight aggrotech bonds. The German-language refrain, on the other hand, is performed almost dignified by Dennis Schober. ‘Discipline’ comes around in a similar angry manner and with full, lush synth arrangements. The harsh, commanding vocals are settled by the more melodic chorus with catchy tunes.
An atmospheric instrumental number follows with the title track ‘Transcendent’. The track is more poppy and much calmer. You can simply lean back, let your thoughts wander and enjoy. The following duet ‘The Great Unknown’ is worth a bow. The vocals of the wonderful Elena Alice Fossi (KIRLIAN CAMERA) have almost something of prayer singing and lead into a wonderful melodic, catchy refrain. The song is the third pre-release of the album and should be a dancefloor hit already. In contrast, ‘End Of Story’ seems musically comparatively banal. The relatively quiet song can’t quite convince me and for me it’s the weakest track on the album. But that means weeping on high level. With ‘Self-Fulfilling Prophecy’ SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS succeed in translating self-doubt and self-hatred into a song worthy of celebration. The track has a lot more energy and drive - dark, heavy drums and a bit nastiness. The chorus is still catchy and invites you to sing along. CD1 ends moody and atmospheric with the darkly and almost menacingly ‘Agony’.
Familiar and yet different. CD2 takes this to the next level, presenting four new songs with four guests at the microphone and on top contains eight remixes, what I don’t want to go deeper into it. Singer Nina de Lianin (IN STRICT CONFIDENCE) is adding a considerable nuance of romance to the electronic tunes of ‘Träumen’. The song is followed by ‘Sea Of Love’ what comes with a very catchy Synth Pop melody and the delightful voice of Patrik Hansson (UNCREATED / VANGUARD). On ‘Anyone Out There’ we hear the voice of Gabriella Åström (ME THE TIGER). ‘So Bizarre’ is featured by Nils Upahl from BEYOND OBSESSION and has an allegorical Synth Pop atmosphere. Very danceable. CD3 presents us cover versions of the most well-known SOLITARY EXPERIMENT songs only covered and re-sung by female singers. Some of them are very surprising and all of them worth listening. My favorite one: the ADAM IS A GIRL version from ‘Now Or Never’.
‘Transcendent’ clearly shows that SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS are masters of their craft. There’s no doubt. The band is eclectic and doesn’t shy away from changing accents and styles. This new album seems to be like a trip into familiar territory, but at the same time it is always surprising and unexpected. “Solid & catchy, high quality electro sounds with attitude” at its best. The album is available as a 2CD Deluxe DigiBook, as a cassette (MC) and as a strictly up to 500 copies limited wooden box with exclusive bonus CD, rubber duck (with a tie of course), shot glass, two sticker and certificate; three boxes each with one golden ticket (unfortunately there was none in mine). I’m very excited about the upcoming tour and how the new songs will take effect on stage.
Tracklist
CD1: Transcendent
01. Wonderland
02. Heart of stone
03. Every now and then
04. Head over heels
05. Zeitgeist feat. Dirk Ivens (Dive)
06. Discipline
07. Transcendent
08. The great unknown (album) feat. Elena Fossi (Kirlian Camera)
09. End of story
10. Self-fulfilling prophecy
11. In agony
CD2: Enlightenment
01. Träumen feat. Nina De Lianin (In Strict Confidence)
02. Sea of love feat. Patrik Hansson (uncreated/vanguard)
03. Anyone out there feat. Gabriella Åström (me the tiger)
04. So bizarre feat. nils upahl (beyond obsession)
05. Every Now And Then (Rob Dust RMX)
06. Heart Of Stone (Grendel RMX)
07. Wonderland (In Strict Confidence RMX)
08. Heart Of Stone (Run Level Zero RMX)
09. Wonderland (Supreme Court RMX) lost tapes (bonus material)
10. Darkness falls (Anxiolytic RMX By MC1R)
11. Road To Horizon (Controlled Fusion RMX By Steffen Schuhrke)
12. Immortal (Massiv In Mensch RMX)
CD3: La Voix De La Femme (only comes with the limited wooden box)
01. Achromatic feat. Mari Kattman
02. Delight feat. Julia Beyer
03. Now Or Never feat. Adam Is A Girl
04. Sanctuary feas. Schmoun
06. Epiphany feat. Omnimar
07. I Am feat. Distorted Reality
08. The Struggle feat. Julia Beyer
09. Shelter feat. Schmoun
Line-up
Dennis Schober – Vocals / Lyrics
Michael Thielemann – Synths / Programming
Frank Glassl – Live E-drums
Markus Otto – Live Ssynths
Sebastian Gauff – Live Percussion
Website
http://www.solitaryexperiments.de / https://www.facebook.com/solitaryexperiments
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 10
Extras: 10 (wooden Fan Box)
Total: 9.8 / 10
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