Letten 94 – Empty Landscapes (EP – Cold Transmission Music)
Genre/Influences: Cold-Wave, Dark-Wave.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Letten 94 is a Swiss duo driven by Dolorès and Freddy Van Ballast. The “Empty Landscapes”-EP was released by the end of 2021 and features four tracks.
Content: Letten 94 takes us back to the minimalism of Cold/Dark-Wave. It sounds pretty 80s like, the songs being composed with electronics and guitar while the sound of a good-old rhythm-box only accentuates the retro-feeling.
+ + + : This EP will appeal for lovers of bands like Selofan, Linea Aspera ao. The icy sound treatments have something magic. It also comes through by the production of the vocals revealing sexy, cold, female vocals and passionate male vocals reminding me of Chris Corner (IAMX). The title song is a great opener but I personally prefer “Where No One Goes” and the excellent “Red Lights Soft Skins” which is pure passion. It’s also cool to get an EP featuring 4 different songs from a high quality level.
– – – : I regret this is an EP and not an album; I want more stuff like this.
Conclusion: Letten 94 took me by surprise; this is a great debut release revealing efficient vintage Electro-Wave music.
Best songs: “Red Lights Soft Skins”, “Where No One Goes”, “Empty Landscapes”.
Rate: 8½.
Artist: www.facebook.com/letten94
Label: www.coldtransmission.com / www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic
About Letten 94
Letten 94 is a Swiss cold-wave duo made up of Dolorès and Freddy Van Ballast. On the project’s Bandcamp credits Dolorès handles lead vocals and guitar, while Van Ballast plays synths and sings backing vocals.
The duo opened its discography with the single “Empty Landscapes” on 23 July 2021. Letten 94 produced that track with Remove, who also mixed and mastered it, and it was recorded at Collectif Glaucal. The four-track “Empty Landscapes” EP reviewed here followed in November 2021 on Cold Transmission Music. The album “Not Enough” arrived in April 2026.
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.
