Cubic – The Cubic Alphabet (Album – Alfa Matrtix)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: After the excellent “Alphabet Hymn”-EP and having revisited the 808 Dot.Pop-album “Cubic Temperature” Belgian solo-project Cubic now unleashes his own debut-album. It’s a conceptual work wherein Franky Deblomme (ex Darkmen) put some letters of the alphabet into music.
Content: Franky Deblomme already gives us an idea of his sound approach on previous releases. He’s clearly inspired by the Minimal-Electro/Pop approach of his label mate Metroland (and 808 Dot.Pop) getting back to the sound of Kraftwerk, mixed with his own Dance & New-Beat influences plus a harder EBM touch (as a kind of wink to Darkmen). Vocals have been replaced by robotic/computer vocals, which are just adding a cool effect to the songs.
+ + + : Cubic has achieved a well-crafted and intelligent piece of retro/modern Electro. The influences are moving much farther than simply Kraftwerk, but I also want to mention some bass lines reminding me of Front 242 and Dance sequences à la Niels Van Gogh. It creates a diversified opus with as common thread a sophisticated and refreshing Electro production. The work reveals different potential hits such as “X – Album Edit”, “W”, “S”, “D – Delta Dub” and “F – French Dub Mix”. The concept has something funny, but the music is definitely more interesting. This is a surprising production mixing refinement and subtlety at one side and danceable songs with a refreshing Electro-Pop style at the other side.
– – – : Cubic belongs to this growing wave of Robotic/Kraftwerk-ian projects so it’s not that renewing although Cubic has something of its own!
Conclusion: Cubic brings Electro-Pop music to a higher dimension and level by mixing different- and related influences together. This is for sure one of the hottest newcomers from the Alfa-Matrix roster.
Best songs: “X – Album Edit”, “W”, “S”, “F – French Dub Mix”, “D – Delta Dub”.
Rate: 8½.
Artist: www.facebook.com/franky.deblomme.3
Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘The Cubic Alphabet’.
About Cubic
Cubic is the Belgian electronic project of producer Franky Deblomme after his earlier involvement in the EBM outfit Darkmen. Working with hardware synths and drum machines, the project draws on the Düsseldorf electro tradition with Kraftwerk as its best known ambassador.
Deblomme joined Alfa Matrix in early 2021 and issued the label debut EP Alphabet Hymn in March. Shortly afterwards he reworked material by Passenger S (808 DOT POP and Metroland) on the cross-project album The Cubic Temperature.
The first full-length, “The Cubic Alphabet”, was released on 18 June 2021 on CD and as a download. Deblomme explained the concept in the October 2021 ‘Click Interview’ with Cubic. Later that year came the EP “Phonic Lessons Part 3”, and in 2022 a series of location-based EPs starting with “Exit: Frankfurt”, followed by “Exit: Ghent” and “Exit: Manchester”. The same year Deblomme remixed the Side-Line charity single “Ukraina”.
Ahead of the 2024 album Back To Basic, the digital EPs “c64” and “c128” were released. Deblomme later handed the “Back To Basic” stems to Passenger S for the rework album “Back To 808” (2025), followed by the EP “EFM02” and the twin EPs “CB-708” and “CB-128” in 2026. “The Cubic Alphabet” remains the project’s debut album.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
