Camlann – Circa 1983 (Album – Cold Transmission Music)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Wave, Cold-Wave.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Camlann is an Indonesian trio driven by Ony Godfrey (vocals & guitar), Bayu Triyudanto (bass) and Fauzan Pratama (synthesizer, drum machine & analog bass). “Circa 1983” is the band’s second album; the title refers to some of the band’s influences, which include Depeche Mode, X-Mal Deutschland, but also Disco music and Japanese- + Indonesian City-Pop. The album was produced, mixed and mastered by Pedro Code.
Content: The sound of this album indeed brings us back to some 80s groups. The debut cuts are into a pure Electro-Wave style dominated by Ony Godfrey’s particular timbre of voice and passionate way of singing. Some other cuts are more into Cinematographic inspiration while I also noticed a kind of acoustic ballad.
+ + + : Both debut songs are great, revealing a band with a charismatic female singer. The way of singing has something bewitching and definitely appears to be the main strength of this band. The sound of both songs sound exciting. There also is something to say about the acoustic “Alternate Version” of “I’m Nobody”, which I definitely prefer to the original edit.
– – – : After a short, but great debut, the album is progressively stagnating in stereotypical 80s driven Electro/Wave-Pop songs without real climax. The composition even becomes a bit predictable and monotonous. It sounds like the Electronic treatments are pretty close to preset sounds.
Conclusion: I’m sure there’s much more potential inside this band than what came out.
Best songs: “Obsession? Depression?”, “1983”.
Rate: (6).
Artist: www.facebook.com/camlann.camlann.3
Label: www.coldtransmission.com / www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic
About Camlann
Camlann is a darkwave band from Jakarta, Indonesia, formed in early 2019 according to its Discogs profile, with Ony Godfrey (vocals, guitar), Bayu Triyudanto (bass) and Fauzan Pratama (synthesizer, drum machine, analog bass); Discogs spells the third member’s surname Bratama. The band self-released the four-track EP “The Arrival” in 2019 and signed to Cold Transmission Music for the single “1983” and the debut album “The Forgotten Lost Fragments”, released on 20 July 2020. Tracks also appeared on the Obscura Undead compilations “UnObscured” (2020 and 2021) and on Cold Transmission’s “Zeitgeist Vol. 13” and “Spotlight Vol. 2”.
“Circa 1983” was released on 21 May 2021 as a download and on CD through Cold Transmission Music, with a limited LP edition; Side-Line listed the band among the acts hit by pressing delays in Suez Canal ship blockade causes huge delay in vinyl productions – victims include a string of scene acts in July 2021. The ten tracks are “1983”, “Obsession? Depression?”, “Metropolitan Boy”, “I’m Nobody”, “Give Me Light (Album Version)”, “Possessive And Possessed”, “Dancing With My Pain”, “I’m Nobody (Alternate Version)”, “Dear My Younger Self” and “Hatred”. Pedro Code produced, mixed and mastered the album.
Camlann contributed a remix to the Dead Astronauts album Silhouettes Redux (Cold Transmission Music, December 2021) and self-released the single “Midnight Euphoria” and the album “Train To 86th Street” in 2022. “Circa 1983” is the band’s second album and its first Side-Line review.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
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.
