Enzo Kreft – XL (Album – Enzo Kreft Music)
Genre/Influences: Cold-Wave, Electro-Wave, EBM.
Format: Digital, Vinyl.
Background/Info: “XL” is a fine selection of ten songs taken from the three last albums (cf. “Control”, “Different World” and “Shelter”) from Belgian DIY-artist Enzo Kreft (aka Eric Vandamme).
Content: This work brings nothing new although a kind of ‘best of’-tracks from the last full lengths by the Belgian Cold-Wave artist. The vintage sound treatments and especially the strings remind me of Gary Numan. But “XL” also features a few harder and even pure EBM pieces. This is a moody but always danceable Electro with the half sung half spoken vocals of Eric Vandamme on top.
+ + + : If you never heard of Enzo Kreft -which would be a shame, this album is a great opportunity to discover the artist’s work from the past few years. His global approach in sound and production hasn’t really changed over the years; he remains faithful to the 80s electro sound driven by analog sound treatments. The strings running through the songs have this early 80s magic -which will please Gary Numan fans. “XL” reveals numerous great pieces from the artist and it’s even hard to give you a favorite one. We get an impressive list of brilliant and accomplished pieces instead. I however would dare to tip “Disobedient” for its danceable Electro-Wave, “Viral Paranoia” which is good-old EBM reminding me of the bass line of DAF, “Duck And Cover” for its anguished side and “Woke Up This Morning” for its overwhelming, dark, sphere. A last word I want to say is the engaged lyrical themes of the artist which are also quite poetic and sung in an impressive half spoken way.
– – – : I sometimes regret the tracks aren’t just a bit longer.
Conclusion: Enzo Kreft at his best! This artist deserves a wider recognition for his great talent to bring 80s Electro-Wave music alive with a refreshing touch.
Best songs: “Disobedient”, “Viral Paranoia”, “Duck And Cover”, “Woke Up This Morning”, “Biometrics”, “It’s Going On And On”, “Blood Diamonds”.
Rate: 9.
Artist: www.facebook.com/enzo.kreft
About Enzo Kreft
Enzo Kreft is the solo project of Belgian artist Eric Vandamme, who started composing electronic music in the 1980s. His most prolific period began a few years ago, with self-released albums that each center on a specific topic, mixing Electro-Wave, EBM and Minimal-Electro. Recent full lengths include “Control”, “Different World” and “Shelter”, the latter built around war themes.
“XL” compiles ten songs drawn from those three albums, released digitally and on vinyl.
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.
