A nice, mid-tempo number performed live by e-gens, a very promising Russian synthpop group. We Change is from their new album, Fine! Shine!

A cool song and video from the Swiss synthpop duo, This Play.

Michael Pohl, a.k.a. synthpop veteran Wave in Head, is back with a new album, The Voice in Me, that should delight any fan of densely layered electronic and vocal synthpop arrangements.

The Voice in Me, Michael’s long anticipated fourth album, contains an intriguing and enjoyable variety of mid-tempo songs and ballads. Great song writing, crisp production and delightful arrangements, as we’ve come to expect from this talented synthpop pro.

One of Michael’s strengths has always been his amazing voice, and I’m pleased to report that it’s in top form on The Voice in Me. Whether it’s providing propulsive emphasis on a faster number like Against My Life or softly floating above subtly crafted electronic and drum machine beats on a ballad like Mit Dir, Michael’s voice has got to be one of the best in the world of modern synthpop music.

Here are a few highlights from The Voice in Me:

Against My Life: An enjoyable mid-tempo song with a strong beat and awesome harmonies. Nice, ethereal outro – something new that I haven’t heard in past WIH albums.

Gone: A likable ballad about love and loss that contains lots of playful electronic blips and beeps.

Dieser Tag: A bright, mid-tempo German language song in which the synth line plays counterpoint to Michael’s crisp, engaging vocals. As much as any song on the album, Dieser Tag draws attention to it’s superb production. Vocals, synths and bass line played in my headphones with astounding clarity and warmth, never sounding muddy or indistict. There’s a surprising balance between electronic precision and warmth that is quite admirable and all too rare.

As If: A slow, atmospheric song that sounds very orchestral in places. It’s a very different style for Michael, almost an ambient song. But it works well and adds variety to this excellent album.

Lead the World of Mine: A dark, dramatic number with ominous-sounding synths and punchy vocals rising above the sea of darkness. Impressive!

Mit Dir: This ballad starts out with a drum machine and Michael’s haunting, melodic vocals (singing in German) and slowly builds, adding a violin-like synth line and a few other instrumental touches. Mit Dir’s minimalist arrangement is just right; Michael’s vocals provide the only drama in this stripped down, haunting arrangement.

The Magician: Bright, swirling synths surround Michael’s minor-key vocals in this very atmospheric, faster number.

What’s nice about The Voice in Me – and most of Michael’s music, for that matter – is that it always seems to hit the perfect blend of experimentation, but without straying too far from the trademark Wave in Head sound. That keeps it interesting from one album to the next.

If you’re a Wave in Head fan, then The Voice in Me is a must-add to your collection. If not, then I heartily recommend this album as a point of entry into Michael’s impressive body of excellent synthpop music. You can pick it up from a number of online retailers, including Michael’s label, A Different Drum, as well as iTunes.

You may also want to check out The Voice in Me single, which features the album version of its namesake song plus two remixes and – best of all – an older tune that Michael has performed live but which apparently has never been released, Suddenly. This track really showcases Michael’s ability to craft dramatic arrangements and stunning vocal harmonies. An outro for Suddenly rounds out this release.

There is some very good modern synthpop produced around the world that is not sung in English. Among the best of these groups is Silica Gel from Spain. Here is their club-friendly hit, ¿Dónde Estás?, from their 2008 album, Exodo.

Motel la Solitude is an amazingly strong sophmore album from the Italian synthpop duo, Babylonia.

Released four years after their last album, Later Tonight, Motel la Solitude features a rich tapbestry of well-crafted songs that take the group’s sound in some fresh new directions, while retaining enough of the group’s signature songs – Max Giunta’s plaintive, urgent vocals, electric piano and lush synthesizer arrangements – to create one of the first truly outstanding albums of the new year.

The pleasures of this delightful album are best appreciated with a good pair of headphones. The production on Motel la Solitude is first rate, with the group’s lush arrangements rarely if ever sounding muddy or over-produced. A new addition to the Babylonia sound on this album is guitar, which is perfectly integrated into the group’s rich instrumental tapestry on several songs, and adds an exciting new dimension to the group’s already-distinctive style.

Here are some highlights:

A Feeling Without Feeling: The first song on Motel la Solitude starts out with a stark, lonely synth line, followed by Max’s expressive vocals. Against this spartan backdrop, the song slowly builds into a delectable, multifaceted mid-tempo number punctuated by a soaring synthsizer riff.

On The Corner: An ominous sounding mid-tempo song that is one of my favorites. After a 30-second synthesizer intro, the lead guitar is paired with drums to establish a strong, driving beat for this excellent song. As usual, Max’s plaintive vocals reinforce the ominous tone of On the Corner: “Something waits around the corner/I don’t want to discover/What stands around the corner/I’m trembling.” A very cool song!

By My Side: A great selection for the first single from Motel la Solitude. This song has a very lush sound and a strong beat. I love the way Babylonia uses different instruments and vocals to set up a point-counterpoint, with synth and guitar playfully swirling around in my headphones.

Better Days: An excellent ballad, underscored by a soaring synthesizer line that reflects the lyrics’ hopeful tone:  “We just can’t seen to find a way/So I can pray for better days.”

Ethereal Connection: Another well-crafted, lush mid-tempo song. One of its highlights is a beautiful instrumental interlude about 1:40 into this excellent song that serves as its bridge.

Myself Into Myself: This song features many playful touches and contrasts in it’s lush arrangement that gives it a DM-esque sound.

Requiem For Me: A sparse but blissful ballad that features a great point-counterpoint between Max’s heavenly vocals and atmospheric synth lines. Pure ear candy!

Soundtrack for an End: This excellent song features propulsive vocals, underscored by a playful beat underscored by jangly synths. At the end of the song, there is a very cool interlude with what sounds like a synthesized slide guitar. Heavenly!

Love Not For Me: A soaring, multi-layered violin intro slowly reaches a crescendo, then transitions into a propulsive beat with synth accents that sounds very reminiscent of recent Depeche Mode songs. Lots of playful noises and synthesizer riffs swirl around Max’s distinctive vocals, making this a real stand-out track, in my opinion.

Although it’s too early in 2010 to proclaim Babylonia’s new release as the best album of the new year, it’s certainly in first place on my playlist right now!

You can listen to excerpts of four songs on Babylonia’s MySpace page. Motel la Solitude will be released on January 15, 2010.

During the past few weeks, I’ve had an opportunity to preview Babylonia’s new album, Motel la Solitude. During the next few days, I will post my review of this awesome new work from the talented Italian synthpop duo.

Meanwhile, here is an interview I recently did with Max from Babylonia:

Chuck Frey: What were your goals for Motel la Solitude?

Max: We have tried to move forward from the previous album “Later Tonight” in terms of experimenting. We wanted a harder and more organic album and we think we did it.

CF: What does the name of the album signify?

Max: A motel is a place where people stay for just a night or a little more. A place of transition and meditation as well, but also a place of rest and break. We think that somehow this is the mood of the new album. In addiction to that, we find the words “Motel La Solitude” very poetic and elegant.

CF: What is the official release date?

Max: Motel La Solitude will be out on 15th january 2010 on CD and digital formats.

CF: What are you and Robbie proudest of on this album? What excites you about it?

Max: To be honest, we are really proud of every part of the album : we love the production, most of the songs (melodies and lyrics), the artwork itself. We worked hard for this new record, so it’s a great satisfaction for us.

CF: How does this new album reflect an evolution of the Babylonia musical style?

Max: At the beginning of the recording sessions of Motel La Solitude we felt that we didn’t wanted another dance/club oriented album as Later Tonight. We keep on listening new music and discovering new artists and genres, so somehow this reflects on our work. We have grown as persons as well as musicians and probably, thanks to this, new album sounds more articulated and rich.

CF: What made you decide to work with sound engineer Marco Barusso? What did he help you to achieve on Motel la Solitude?

Max: We knew what Marco did with bands like Lacuna Coil, Cradle Of Filth and other great names. So we were lucky to work with him. He was fundamental in studio because he helped us in giving a cooler energy to the tracks, especially on the drums.

CF: Four years between albums – do you consider yourselves to be perfectionists when you’re writing and producing songs?

Max: Oh yes! We release a new work only when we are very proud and feel secure about it.

CF: What were your sources of inspiration while writing and producing Motel la Solitude?

Max: Personal life and an uncertain amount of records we listened to during these years.

CF: Do you feel that you’ve grown in confidence as songwriters and performers? How so?

Max: Yes we do! We had the chance to perform in many European cities like Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Praga, Bratislava and more. Moreover, we opened the concerts of many talented artists like IAMX, Clients and Melotron : watching all these acts at work from a very close perspective was very instructive. All these experiences helped us in feeling more confident on stage, so nowadays our concerts are more enjoyable and rich than before!

CF: You mention in your publicity materials that you have refined your sound in part through your experiences of playing live shows throughout Europe. What are some of the things you learned, and how have they influence the direction of your music?

Max: Playing new songs in front of an audience can help you in perceiving your songs in a different way. For example, you can realize that a song needs a different structure as the old one doesn’t work at all. Also, playing live new material from “Motel La Solitude” pushed us in searching a sound more powerful and strong, because you want to see people dancing and moving during your shows.

CF: You also indicate that Motel la Solitude appeals not only to fans of synthpop music, but also anyone who loves a good pop song. Did you write the songs on this album with the goal of appealing to a much broader audience?

Max: We don’t have any expectation or goal during the writing but we find new songs potentially enjoyable to a larger audience.

CF: Where will you be touring to promote Motel la Solitude? Any plans to come to the States?

Max: We are currently building up a promotional tour that will start on 20th february 2010 in Istanbul. Then we will play 6-7 shows throughout Italy. We will constantly update out websites with news dates and further infos. We’d love to play in the States, it would be a dream!  We hope someday to have the chance to come and play there!

CF: What else would you like to say to the readers of the Modern Synthpop blog?

Max: We invite them to discover our music through our websites (www.babyloniamusic.com and www.myspace.com/babylonia) and we hope to meet them to one of our next concerts. Keep on supporting synthpop music! Thanks for your kindness and ciao from Italy!

Watch for my review of Motel la Solitude on this blog!

Something Epic is a soaring, evocative ballad from the awesome Italian synthpop band, Babylonia.

Some albums just grab hold of you the first time you listen to them. With other albums, it takes repeated listening sessions for the songs to grow on you. And some albums you “connect” with only in a limited way, no matter how long you listen to them. I’m afraid to say that the latter is the case with Mesh’s new album, A Perfect Solution.

I had high expectations for this album, especially because their last release, We Collide, is an absolute masterpiece.  Mesh set the bar very high for themselves with this stellar album. In comparison, A Perfect Solution just doesn’t measure up.

I waited for weeks to write this review, waiting and wondering if perhaps I was jumping to conclusions too quickly. Maybe if I gave it more time, it would start to grow on me, I reasoned. But that never quite happened.

To be fair, A Perfect Solution does contain some excellent songs, such as Only Better, If We Stay Here, It’s Gone and Who Says. But the rest of the album seems to be populated with fairly mediocre songs that just didn’t resonate with me.

Here are some highlights:

If We Stay Here – A very strong opening track, with a rocking beat.

Only Better – A great choice for the first single from this album. Only Better has that signature Mesh sound – Mark Hockings’ distinctive vocals, angst-tinged lyrics, guitar for underpinning and soaring synths. The outro on this song feels bolted onto the song, and doesn’t quite seem to fit. Still, an excellent track overall. Be sure to check out the Alien 6 Mix of this song, which gives it a driving clubby beat and contains numerous neat little touches. It can be found on the Only Better EP, which was released a month before A Perfect Solution.

Everything I Made – Another solid mid-tempo Mesh song; just not very memorable.

Is It So Hard – A ballad; just doesn’t do anything for me.

Hold It Together – Another mid-tempo song that feels a little bit like filler.

The middle of the album is where Mesh seems to run out of steam. It’s not that they’re badly-written songs; they just don’t meet the usual standard that Mesh fans have become accustomed to.

It’s Gone – I like this pop-styled ballad, which is supported by a sweet-sounding acoustic guitar. Synths are used sparingly, mainly in the bridge of the song.

How Long – Another forgettable mid- tempo song, with somewhat inane lyrics: “If we’d ever write the play/We’d never need rehearse/Cause everything we say/Someone’s said it first.”

Who Says – What makes this song really stand out is the duet between Mesh frontman Mark Hockings and Julia Beyer of Technoir.

Hope.Dreams – Very much a classic Mesh mid-tempo song, with percussive synthesizers and Hockings’ minor key vocals. This is one of those songs that took a while to grow on me.

Want You – Not one of Mesh’s more memorable ballads.

The Bitter End – The closing song on A Perfect Solution starts out with an echoey synthsizer riff that sounds like an homage to VNV Nation, and transitions into a driving, industrial beat with Hockings’ punchy lyrics proving the counterpoint. This is a strong end to an otherwise average album.

A Perfect Solution marks the return of a former Mesh staple, the instrumental outro. They work well on a few songs, such as Who Says and Hope.Dreams but they seem randomly bolted on to other songs, such as Only Better and Hold It Together.

My verdict: A Perfect Solution is a pretty good album, but as a follow-up to their last album, We Collide, it’s not of the same caliber. Die-hard Mesh fans will want to pick it up to complete their collection. But if you’re new to the Mesh camp and are looking for an entry point into their extensive catalog, We Collide is still your best bet.

A terrific new single from Babylonia’s forthcoming album, Motel La Solitude, due out in January. I can’t wait!

Tenek’s new album, Stateless, is one of the standout synthpop releases of 2009. It’s filled with infectious, complex songs that are a delight to listen to, with a myriad of rhythms and textures that are pure ear candy.

Tenek is the latest project from Geoff Pinckney (The Nine/Mesh) and Pete Steer. Both gentlemen have had long careers in the UK electronic music scene, and it shows in the confident, polished but never over-produced arrangements on Stateless. This is the first full album produced by the duo.

What really sets Stateless apart is the variety of songs, from synth-driven pop to club-friendly, beat-heavy, densely arranged floor fillers, plus several impressive instrumental tracks. A number of songs do an excellent job of blending synthesizers with guitars – a rarity in most electronic music these days. Steer’s guitar playing is used for emphasis, and never overwhelms the arrangement of the songs.

I’m a fan of layered arrangements where different elements swim around in the headphones, sometimes supporting and other times contrasting with each other. That means there’s lots to love in Stateless. There is literally no filler on this album. Every song is a strong effort in its own right.

Here are a few highlights:

Breakdown – One of my favorite tracks on Stateless. A club-friendly beat becomes really pronounced in the chorus of this densely layered arrangement. Vocals are punctuated by some use of vocoder, but it’s not excessive.

Submission – Opens with very cool guitar riffs. This is a nicely arranged mid-tempo song.

If I Should Fall – A driving uptempo number with nice use of vocal harmony. Another favorite from this album.

Where’s the Time – A rocking song with a great rhythm. Rather sparsely arranged, with pulsating synths and lyrics providing a very effective counterpoint to each other.

Fatality – A mellow instrumental track that starts out with a sparse beat, adds an understated, spacey guitar riff and is eventually punctuated by driving synths about two-thirds of the way through.  Nice!

I Don’t Cry (For You) – Intelligent lyrics and soaring synths combine with a nice, driving beat. Synthesized guitar is used nicely for emphasis between the chorus and verses. Another one of the better songs on Stateless.

Less is More- A driving beat and chilly, cool-sounding synths combined with Geoff’s sharply-punctuated vocal stylings make this perhaps the best track on the album, in my opinion.

State of Mind – Spacey opening that quickly evolves into a lush arrangement with pulsating, layered synths.

Sombre Friday – An awesome chilled-out instrumental that you simply must listen to on headphones. Nice layered arrangement point-counterpoint about halfway through the song between the stately “chorus” synths and an electric guitar.

If you’re a fan of contemporary synthpop, chances are you’re going to love Stateless, which is released on the Toffeetones label. I can’t wait to see where Pinckney and Steer go from here!