Ultranoire – Intronaut (CD Album – Scentair Records)
Genre/Influences: Synth-pop.
Background/Info: Ultranoire is Hungarian-German duo unleashing their second opus on Scentair Records. They define their music as ‘synth-noir’-music.
Content: Ultranoire deals with the purest imaginable synth-pop format. This music directly appeals for fans of Depeche Mode and De/Vision. The songs are into melancholia, which totally fits to the ‘synth-noir’ definition. It’s a delicate composition accomplished with piano-like arrangements and masterly carried by the sensual vocals of singer Josef Stapel.
+ + + : No doubt about it, Ultranoire has been clearly inspired by Depeche Mode revealing to be talented copyists. Their music is accomplished and accomplished with great arrangements and melancholic atmospheres. I also like the singer’s timbre of voice, which also reminds to Depeche Mode. He injects now a sexy touch and then pure emotion. The song “Yesteryears” is not my favorite one, but I mention it because it probably is one of the most personal cuts.
– – – : The main point with bands inspired by Depeche Mode is that they never will sound as Depeche Mode. They’ll always remain in the shadow, being labeled as ‘copyists’! So Ultranoire in a way suffers from a lack of sound identity.
Conclusion: If you forget Depeche Mode for a few minutes, I can assure you Ultranoire is a real fascinating formation. I’m not afraid of emulations and definitely not when they’ve been accomplished with talent. So ‘yes’ I like this album, which I would simply recommend to all synth-pop lovers.
Best songs: “Poisoned”, “Yesteryears”, “Technicolor Lies”, “Playing Dead”.
Rate: (8).
Band: www.ultranoire.com / www.facebook.com/ultranoiremusic
Label: www.scent–air.com / www.facebook.com/ScentairRecords
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
