Epic soundscapes in Retro Rock
As someone still riding the high of Daftpunk’s glorious Discovery album, and more than longing their return to form, there have been few albums to date that have filled the void. Alan Braxe’s 2005 album …and Friends was more than a nod in the right direction along with Justice’s Audio, Video, Disco in 20011 – a truly remarkable showcase of epic, ‘retro rock’ and electro pop-culture. This happy pill of euphoric, electronic beats and progressive sounds is possibly the closest comparison to date - one that transports you right back to Saturday morning cartoons and those forgotten realms so wonderfully realised in Daftpunk’s accompanying feature, Intersella 5555 and showcased further through Justice’s very own music videos.
DatA’s Skywriter is more of the same electro beats, synth sounds and filtered vocals with perhaps more emphasis on ‘pop’. Where opening track, ‘Verdict’ transports us back in time with ‘Tudor funk’ sounds, the second and most accessible track, ‘One in a Million’ is immediately recognised through the Citroen DS3 commercial. ‘Aerius Light’ evokes the feeling of being trapped inside a video game at highspeed pursuit. Relentless, effortless…until the familiar sound of the keyboard seeps through and influences your change in direction. When we reach ‘So Much in Love’ the rifts of robotic vocals and funky guitar are brought to life by the stroke of the keys and solid bass line. Closing track, ‘Blood Theme’ relies heavily on drawing you in with the piano before spinning you off deliriously in to the electro beats fused throughout the album. Overall, DatA’s Skywriter is worthy of placement next to the aforementioned efforts of their contemporaries – pitch perfect renditions of metaphysical, sci-fi landscapes that give birth to a plethora of visual soundscapes.
This post was first published on February 24th 2013.
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