Scenius: 13 Billion Darkish Years
CD | DL
Obtainable from 24 October
The synth-pop collaboration that’s Scenius from Leeds and Angers (in France), continues to slip into darkness. Neil Crud crafts his work and listens to their third album.
Scenius, the Anglo-French duo recognized for weaving post-punk angst into crisp, fashionable darkish synth-pop, have delivered their most thematically bold work but with their third full-length album, ‘13 Billion Darkish Years’. Positioning the cosmic ‘Darkish Ages’ – the interval earlier than the primary stars ignited – as a metaphor for modern-day uncertainty, the album is a masterclass in managed rigidity and spacious digital manufacturing.
Whereas the advance singles gave us a glimpse into their spatial vitality, the true energy of this album lies in its deep cuts, which offer the essential ambiance and emotional texture wanted to maintain the conceptual weight of the title.
The album opens with the title monitor, 13 Billion Darkish Years, it immediately units the tone. It’s a sluggish, unfolding piece of kosmische music, constructed on an evolving, chilly, huge, sweeping analog synth sound with a sluggish funeral march for a beat. It creates a sense of huge, terrifying stillness – the sound of an empty universe.
Swift As Mild, then explodes the mirth, with its upbeat rhythm and Fabrice Nau’s indifferent, melodic vocal supply, feeling like successful single. Golden By No Means is a standout deep minimize, buying and selling the dance flooring urgency for a stark, New Order-esque gloom. It contains a sharp, metallic bassline driving a mid-tempo beat, whereas the vocal supply is especially resigned, reflecting the futility inherent within the album’s metaphor. It’s one of the crucial affecting moments, maybe confirming that the darkness Scenius are referring to is completely inner?
Subsequent, is the superbly daunting and haunting Humorous Sky, adopted by Each Time. This leans closely into the duo’s post-punk Kraftwerk-esq influences. The melody right here is hauntingly round, constructed round a recurring, synth motif that conveys a way of cyclic failure and repetition. The association is dense with echoing separation and layered ambiance, giving it the required gravitas and weight to deal with the sensation of being trapped in an English/French loop.
The quick (by Scenius requirements), Guesswork continues the journey, pushing you additional into sonic house. Whereas All In Good Time, acknowledges that illumination might take eons to reach, and as soon as in a lifetime you’ll be able to sit on the fence and look forward to it to occur.
5-Arm Crystal and Blink conclude the album, the previous being typical Scenius whereas the latter virtually leaves you resigned, but uplifted on the similar time. Steve’s unbelievable widescape synth work coming to the fore one final time… Till the following time…
Scenius on Bandcamp | Fb | Instagram
Comply with Neil Crud’s weblog right here
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