Tim: Here is a synthpop track for you that’s very very lovely indeed, and with a nice swirly picture on the SoundCloud embed as well.
Tom: Oh! That surprised me — when you send synthpop over I assume it’s going to be all slow and dreamy. This isn’t. This is… this is brilliant. You’re right, that’s lovely.
Tim: So lovely in fact, that I’ve had it to repeat for a good half hour now, and I’m showing no signs at all of getting bored of it. Mostly because it reminds me of a certain wonderful band, whose Twitter account has sadly been inactive for over a year now, right down to the aforementioned artwork.
Tom: But this isn’t ethereal like the Sound of Arrows: this is proper, four-on-the-floor synthpop.
Tim: It’s great, although I’m having trouble writing about because for no readily apparent reason I have Israel’s entry for this year’s Eurovision stuck in my head.
Tom: Even after half an hour of this? That’s quite the earworm.
Tim: It was, yes. But anyway, nice ethereal vocals–
Tom: Which is where I interrupt and say that the vocals do annoy me a little: the simple rhyming couplet scheme sounds almost infantile, and I find myself wanting either the rhythm and rhyme to be mixed up a bit, or else just to have an instrumental version.
Tim: Oh. There’s still very much the good melody that really comes into its own–
Tom: Although that “we were young” does remind me of a much less appropriate song.
Tim: Hmmmmmmm…then there’s that repeated chord progression throughout what would be the middle eight if there was a final chorus–
Tom: Mind you, that final drum beat pattern is just the opening of New Order’s Blue Monday.
Tim: –and man, I really love that picture.
Tom: Yep, despite my many minor qualms there, I had no problem just putting the track on repeat. It reminds me a little of one of my favourite bands, VNV Nation. Rainmode aren’t quite on their level yet, but then they haven’t been going nearly as well.
Tim: ALL BRILLIANT.