Genre/Influences: Dark-pop. Background/Info: Noir is the newest band of ex-Spahn Ranch singer Athan Maroulis. This…
Genre/Influences: Dark-pop.
Background/Info: Noir is the newest band of ex-Spahn Ranch singer Athan Maroulis. This formation released a debut-album “Darkly Near” in 2003, which revealed an interesting ‘noir’-pop style. “The Burning Bridge” features one new song plus three cover versions.
Content: The title song stands for the essence of the Noir-sound. It’s a fully enjoyable kind of pop-driven music supported by dark synth-atmospheres and carried by the charismatic vocals of the front man.
We next get covers of Ministry (cf. “Same Old Madness”), Duran Duran (cf. “The Chauffeur”) and Roxy Music (cf. “In Every Dream Home A Heartache”). The originals versions have been meticulously melted into a Noir molt. It feels a bit evasive and even sweet for the Roxy Music cover, but still carried by bombastic drum patterns on the Ministry-song.
+ + + : The new song is the vein of the “Darkly Near”-work and is a cool piece of music revealing a very personal pop approach. The cover versions are pretty surprising because the original songs are really diversified, but Noir reworked them into something new and totally in the Noir-style. I have a preference for “The Chauffeur” driven by some repetitive, but somewhat transcendental loops and female backing vocals.
– – – : My single reproach is that I expect some more catchy structures and especially melodious passages, but I’m afraid I’m probably expecting some more ‘traditional’ electro-pop from a band, which is clearly not dealing with this sound approach.
Conclusion: “The Burning Bridge” is an original intermezzo in between two albums. It reveals a cool titles song and creative cover versions.
Best songs: “The Chauffeur”, “The Burning Bridge”.
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.