Memoria – From The Bones (Album – Novoton)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Wave, Electro-Pop, Dark-Wave.
Format: Digital, Vinyl.
Background/Info: More or less four years after the excellent debut-album “Cravings” Swedish Memoria strikes back with new work. The album got preceded by multiple singles. Tess de la Cour (wife of Henric de la Cour) again collaborated with Rikard Lindh (Yvonne).
Content: Just as for “Cravings” there still is an explicit 80s touch running feature although this work sounds maybe more ‘personal’. It takes off with a Cinematic-like opener and next moves into uplifting rhythms and heavenly, female, voices. We next discover Electro-Pop/Wave passages –even reminding early Apoptygma Berzerk, going over into Ethereal/Pop-Wave to finish with a more guitar driven Post-Punk part where vocals are becoming more enraged.
+ + + : Somewhere in between Mother destruction, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Apoptygma Berzerk, Memoria first of all is an artist with an eclectic but very own sound and approach. The songs are moving from dreamy passages into furious parts, from cool Electro-Pop structures into enraged Post-Punk. Different influences are constantly crossing each other. I highly recommend the uplifting “Along The Sea” and the very Electro-like “Girl” but the true and single earworm is the short, and powerful, “Anymore”. It’s the shortest cut from the album featuring only a few repetitive vocal lines but it’s a masterpiece. I would be not surprised the song was originally conceived as a B-side or album-filler (because of the pretty short format of 2 minutes 37) but it’s hit I’ve been listening to in a loop.
– – – : Songs are sometimes a bit short and especially the best cut from the work. But on the other side I prefer a short but brilliant cut to an endless tracklist without substance.
Conclusion: After a great debut-album Memoria only confirms to be a new, great, artist with a very eclectic approach in sound.
Best songs: “Anymore”, “Girl”, “Along The Sea”, “Spiders”, “From The Bones Of The Dead”, “Canary”.
Rate: 8½.
Artist: www.facebook.com/memoriasthlm
Label: www.novoton.se / www.facebook.com/Novoton
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