Artist: TSTI
Title: Evaluations
Genre: Synth Pop
Release Date: 7th March 2013
Label: Desire Records
Review Flash
How many times have we found ourselves yearning and longing for the past? Maybe a past we didn’t live physically yet we got to experience through music? “Everything was so much better than…” we say… and although is a regular behaviour to always look back for many reasons, the truth is that when it comes to music, given the revival cumulus, disguised of inspiration, many acts fail to keep their promises of just borrowing some genius, and provide their own appropriations that offer new visions beyond mere continuation. This is not the case of TSTI’s first album ‘Evaluations’, a trip clad in heavy textured synth pop through the different circles of gloominess, while flirting with cold wave and dark wave all the same. The result? A rich experience of synths, samples and lusty yet paradoxically dispassionate vocals that touches our reptilian brain to be seduced, scared, excited, confused… The album starts with the hit ‘In Loving Memory’ reaching a climax in tracks such as ‘Love & Truth’ and ‘Acquaintance’ to wane and go full circle in the beginning, closing with a mix for the first track.
Conclusion: Thanks to a bonafide passion for analog synthesisers and mono techniques that will reaffirm that indeed, the past was always better, ‘Evaluations’ provides a sound that is clearly bigger than the four walls of a New York bedroom. Yet perfect to be contained within.
Rating: 8 / 10
