PLATRONiC ‘Fortress of Fools: The Emperor’s New Clothes’ review

A remix normally changes the surface of a song. On “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, PLATRONiC do something more interesting: they test how much the identity of “Fortress of Fools” can change when its rhythm, instrumentation, vocal constellation and atmosphere are reconsidered. The three versions share the same origin, yet each one seems to expose a different aspect of the composition underneath.

That makes the connection with Hans Christian Andersen particularly fitting. “Fortress of Fools” itself grew from a poem by Kay inspired by The Emperor’s New Clothes, but these new versions extend the metaphor into the music. The song is repeatedly “dressed”, and every new arrangement alters the way its story is perceived.

“The Dark Electro Country Dress”, created with On Moral Ends, is perhaps the most unexpected of the three. Guitars enter PLATRONiC’s electronic world without displacing it, while the combination of male and female vocals gives the song an almost narrative quality. There is something faintly fairy-tale-like about it, although not in a sweet or nostalgic sense. The interplay between organic guitar textures and electronics creates a landscape that feels simultaneously familiar and slightly unreal. It is still recognisably PLATRONiC, but the music has acquired greater physical depth and a more cinematic sense of space.

“Forest of Fools – The Synthpop Mashup Dress”, with Imppu, reveals another possibility contained within the same material. This is the most explicitly electronic and rhythmically immediate version. The beat comes forward, the structure becomes more mobile, and Kay’s vocal moves through a brighter, more dynamic electronic environment. What was narrative in the previous track becomes physical here. It is not simply a faster or more danceable interpretation; the stronger pulse changes the emotional distance of the song itself.

The most unusual transformation comes with “The Dark Medieval Gothic Dress”. Spoken and recited passages are surrounded by backing voices, while the rhythm remains underneath as a controlled pulse. The result is more theatrical, but importantly, it never slips into costume drama. The medieval suggestion is created through vocal arrangement, pacing and atmosphere, not obvious historical imitation. There is something ceremonial about it, as though the original song has been temporarily removed from the club and placed inside a darker imaginary space.

What becomes interesting across the three tracks is how differently the same idea behaves depending on its surroundings. Guitars make it feel more like a story; stronger electronics make it more immediate and bodily; recitation and choral voices introduce distance and ritual. The composition remains recognisable, but its centre of gravity keeps moving.

For PLATRONiC, that also makes the EP feel like a small but meaningful expansion of their vocabulary. Kay and Sami do not abandon the melodic electronic identity of the project; instead, they allow it to interact with elements that previously sat further outside it. The results range from dreamlike and almost cinematic to sharply electronic and distinctly theatrical.

And this is where the “new clothes” concept works best. The EP is not really about disguising “Fortress of Fools”. It is about discovering how much was already contained inside the song once its familiar arrangement is removed.

About PLATRONiC

Kay Burden, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and Sami Jumppanen, based in Savonlinna, Finland, began talking over Instagram in 2019 and formed PLATRONiC on EBM Day, 24 February 2020. The duo’s futurepop sound draws on Anne Clark, Propaganda, VNV Nation and Erasure.

Between 2020 and 2022, the pair released the singles “Dreams”, “Control”, “Maybe Someday?” and “Now!”. In 2023, PLATRONiC issued the EP “The Healing” and the single “Memories” through Town and Towers Records, alongside a cover of Depeche Mode’s “The Things You Said”. The following year brought “Calling (Mitten in der Nacht)”, a 2024 re-recording of “Pride” and “Winter Stores”, a ballad based on a poem by Charlotte Brontë. In 2025, PLATRONiC announced the single “How To Ride The Wave?” and contributed “But Not Tonight” to conzoom Records’ Depeche Mode tribute compilation “In Your Memory 2”.

PLATRONiC released the single “Fortress of Fools” on 20 March 2026, built around a poem Kay wrote in response to the world’s “daily madness” and inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. “Fortress of Fools: The Emperor’s New Clothes” now extends that song into three new versions, with On Moral Ends, the Linköping-based project of Swedish musician Andreas Svensson, and Imppu, a keyboardist, producer and remixer from Lahti, Finland.

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Karo Kratochwil

Based in Wrocław, I work as a music journalist and photographer covering electro, industrial, EBM, gothic, and darkwave. My work includes features and live coverage, as well as concert, portrait, promo, and theater photography. What interests me most is the connection between artistic intention, what the work communicates, and what unfolds live on stage, all in pursuit of the bigger picture behind the music.

Tags: Platronic