Genre/Influences: electro-pop.

Background/Info: The third album by Belgian duo of Metroland is for sure the most special one, which is recovered by the mourning of the loss of a friend and essential member of the band. Passenger S and Passenger A last year lost their producer Passenger L (Louis Zachert) so this work is a sincere and poignant artistic homage to their friend.

Content: Metroland remains faithful to their retro-styled electronics, which will appeal to lovers of Kraftwerk, Elektric Music and co. But from the very first notes you can notice a different approach, which sounds more experimental and maybe a bit darker. The electro-pop inspiration they revealed on both previous albums has been joined by an extra exploration in sound. The work becomes more minimal and still more high-tech.

I think it makes no sense going on to compare Metroland with Kraftwerk. It will for sure appeal to fans of this legendary band, but “Things Will Never Sound The Same Again” first of all appears to be an own adaptation of the ‘krautrock’ genre installed by Kraftwerk.

Most of the titles clearly refer to their friend Louis and it clearly appears to be an intimate release filled with hidden messages. I can imagine Passenger L must be very proud and touched about this beautiful testimony of friendship.

+ + + : Metroland moves on developing their own sound based on great astral bleeps, retro-like sequences, slow rhythms, great and sometimes EBM-inspired bass lines and fragmented, robotic spoken vocals. The writing of this album becomes more sophisticated and based on a true passion for sound research and creation.

– – – : Despite of the great evolution in sound, this is for sure their most experimental album with less potential for hits.

Conclusion: Tragic events and sorrow often is the best muse for artists to achieve great artistic work. This album stands for great sound chemistry!

Best songs: “Synthetic Sound”, “Brother”, “Music/Machine”, “Under The Roof”.

Rate: (8).

Band:www.metrolandmusic.com / www.facebook.com/metrolandmusic

Label:www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix