I, for one, am glad that electro and synthwave is making such a nice comeback. It might be due to the fact that I’m a Generation X kid who grew up on new wave synth music and experimental music ruling 1980’s cinema and the FM pop airwaves. I don’t know if Delicate Steve is a fellow Gen X’er, but he certainly loves the music from that era and displays that affection on his latest album – Till I Burn Up.
Opening with heavy synth bass and stuttering processed beats on “Way Too Long,” Till I Burn Up gets off to a great start by sounding like a robotic funk band doing a weird interpretation of Pink Floyd records. “Freedom,” like the track before it, revels in snap-crackle-pop guitar riffs and percussion. “Selfie of a Man” has a great title and a swaggering android sound that pokes fun of how social technology causes us to prevent more false versions of ourselves to the world at large.
The title track is full of crunchy guitar riffs with cool synth stabs behind them. “Purple Boy” is a short instrumental lead-in to the ethereal “Ghost” before the futuristic hit man theme of “Rat in the House.” Seriously, it sounds like something off a cool VHS movie you forgot existed. “Rubberneck” sounds like it’s from a scene in that movie in which the sexy bounty hunter that looks like a living Patrick Nagel painting walks into a smoky nightclub full of neon where they serve glow-in-the-dark drinks.
“We Ride on Black Wings” brings in soaring synths perfect for the song’s subject matter (death, and not being afraid of it). The short “Vacant Disco” is also aptly titled. The underlying quiet menace of the synths on “Madness” reveals some of Delicate Steve’s love for Gary Numan records, I think, and I love how his guitar sounds like it’s filtered through a Transformer’s vocal chords. The album fades out with “Dream,” a lovely track that reminds me of some of John Carpenter‘s quieter themes.
Synthwave is back, my friends, and thank heavens for folks like Delicate Steve for dusting off the old keyboards and sequencers to help it return.
Keep your mind open.
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