808 Dot Pop – The Colour Temperature (Album – Alfa Matrix)
Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Belgian ‘Passenger S’ has now been active in the electronic scene for numerous years. But for the very first time he started with a solo project. After the promising “Black Bodies”-EP series he unleashed the debut album of 808 Dot Pop. The title of the album reveals a conceptual approach about the colour temperature, which is a way to describe the light appearance provided by a light bulb. It is measured in degrees of Kelvin (K) on a scale from 1,000 to 10,000.
Content: The titles of the songs and the computer/robotic voices are connected with the concept of the work. But more important is the content itself. 808 Dot Pop is not that far away from Passenger S’ main project, Metroland. But this project sounds ‘lighter’ and is also more elaborated. Catchy sequences and melodic leads have been mixed with Metroland’s robotic voices. The album features the already familiar “Blackbodies” featuring vocals by Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers) and the upcoming single “Incandescent”.
+ + + : “The Colour Temperature” could have been a catchy, conceptual Metroland album, but instead it’s a promising debut full length by Passenger S. Comparisons with Metroland are unavoidable, but this work sounds less sterile. It’s more catchy driven and I also dare to say more elaborated. We all know who’s hiding behind 808 Dot Pop and I’ve to say this is without a shadow of a doubt the most accomplished work I’ve ever heard from Sven Lauwers. “Thermal Contact” sounds to me as the ultimate song revealing a musician excelling in song writing by using great sound treatments. “Inside The Light Bulb” is another song that might serve as reference. “Black Bodies” remains a great song as well and especially the way Noemi Aurora has contributed to this track is worth mentioning. This album reveals a fascination for vintage sound treatments getting us back to the magic decade of analogue synths.
– – – : The Metroland spectre hangs over this album… and that’s rather logical.
Conclusion: This debut album will definitely appeal for Kraftwerk-pop lovers and of course to all Metroland fans! 808 Dot Pop is more than simply a side-project!
Best songs: “Thermal Contact”, “Inside The Light Bulb”, “Blackbodies – Radiation”, Illuminants”, “Incandescent (Iridium)”.
Rate: (8½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/808dotpop
Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix
About 808 Dot Pop
808 Dot Pop is the solo project of Sven Lauwers, better known as Passenger S of the Belgian electro-pop duo Metroland. “The Colour Temperature” is his debut album under the moniker, following the “Black Bodies” EP series and released on Alfa Matrix. The album’s reception led to a further collaboration with fellow Belgian electronic musician Franky Deblomme, known as Cubic, who reworked the entire record as “The Cubic Temperature”, released in 2021 with an exclusive Bandcamp megamix.
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