Standalone – Standalone (CD Album – Negative Gain Productions)
Genre/Influences: Electro-wave.
Background/Info: Standalone is brand-new solo-project driven by American musician Steven Seibold. You maybe know him from his involvement with hate Dept.
Content: This self-titled debut album features 10 electronic songs with some retro-feeling. There’s something 80s running through the songs, which even makes me think to a rough electro-pop version of The Cure. The song structures are rather simple while the songs are pretty short. The main characteristic of the sound is the rough and unpolished production.
+ + + : The main strength of Standalone is the simplicity of the writing mixed with some rough sound production. The debut song “Destroy Yourself” is a terrific exposure of the artist’s approach. I also like the synth lines running through the song, which often have something vintage-minded. I here want to tip “Ready To Kill”.
– – – : Standalone avoids complexity and that’s a rather positive point, but I however sometimes miss a little bit more elaboration. The sequences became a bit too repetitive after a while.
Conclusion: Standalone brings a refreshing electro/wave-pop format revealing a few cool cuts, but I’m sure this artist can do better.
Best songs: “Destroy Yourself”, “Take Over”, “Short Forever”, “Ready To Kill”.
Rate: (7).
Artist: www.facebook.com/standalonesounds
Label: www.negativegain.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Negative–Gain/212061438836984
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