Illuminatè Steele – Davidian Sex Club (Album – Illuminatè Steele)
Genre/Influences: Minimal-electro, experimental, electro-pop.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: “Davidian Sex club” is the debut album of the Portland (USA) based female project Illuminatè Steele. This artist was previously involved as DJ and promoter.
Content: The opening song reveals a kind of experimental dance-pop music with hot, whispering vocals on top. It’s not the most representative cut of the record, the next songs exploring darker- and mainly minimal-like electro-pop fields. Some passages have been achieved with industrial sound treatments while the vocals are sometimes a bit half-spoken like. The last song is a remix, which evokes to me an industrial edit of Faithless.
+ + + : Illuminatè Steele has something atypical, but I definitely like the minimalism running through the songs. It has something menacing while featuring industrial elements. I think we might speak here about an exciting and visionary approach of electro-pop music. The sensual vocals of the artist are truly matching with this harsh format.
– – – : Some songs are ending with a fade out while several cuts remain pretty short. These are elements, which might be eventually reconsidered on further releases.
Conclusion: “Davidian Sex Club” is an appreciable debut from an artist who’s clearly doing things a different way.
Best songs: “Generation Kill”, “Anima Animus”.
Rate: (6½).
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