Colder, Again (Output) 9+
As the excitement from the electroclash fad fades, few of the artists, predictably, were able to write many actual songs that will hold up over time to merit, say, an electroclash revival twenty years down the road. But there are always a couple who slip under the radar and produce an ultimately winning sleeper. Parisian Marc Nguyen Tan’s coolly downtempo debut album gets under your skin, much like Air did. Eschewing the artificially hysterical nitrous-fueled early 80s club energy, Colder instead focuses on more subterranean sounds. The spirit of Cabaret Voltaire is felt throughout, as Again filters sleek European synth pop through minimalist electronics, ghostly dub treatments and Morricone soundtrack themes. “Shiny Star” combines the droning rhythms of Neu! with glassy modern classical, while “Silicone Sexy” references the stripped-down rockabilly oohs and yeahs of Suicide’s Alan Vega. “Where” answers the question of how New Order would have sounded had Ian Curtis stuck around. All is not icy, however. Colder has just enough heart to share some of the warm pop instincts of current genre compadres such as Schneider TM (“Confusion”), and a touch of Massive Attack’s soulful groove (“One Night In Tokyo”). Tan’s voice is ultra-smooth throughout, a deadpan cool reminiscent of Serge Gainsbourg. By the time the album nears and end with the pulsing, spellbinding “This River,” it’s clear that Again has managed to become this year’s perfect comedown/chillout album while avoiding the dull hippy-wallpaper-muzak trappings of most music of that type.
