Genre/Influences: Indie-rock, rock-pop, shoegaze.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl, Cassette.

Background/Info: Loveblind was set up in 2017 by Saint Marie Records owner Wyatt Parkins. He rapidly got company from Joshua Garman (Crash City Saints) and German based singer Dorian Electrique (Dear Strange, Seasurfer). Mikel Wegener (Seasurfer) and Neal Burkdoll (Whimsical, Point Of Our Resistance). After a few singles they’ve their debut album ready featuring ten songs.

Content: One of the main characteristics that caught my attention is Dorian E. very particular timbre of voice, which reminds me to Brian Molko (Placebo). And there’s also something to say about the music, which features elements reminding to Placebo. Guitar play and electronic arrangements are pretty complementary, creating this indie-wave-pop & rock touch. The tracklist is alternating harder cuts and other dreamy like songs. There’s also a flavor of melancholia hanging over some parts.  

+ + + : First of there’s a cool, enigmatic and artistic digipak of the album. Physical copies will be always so much more than listening to music on streaming platforms. Next there’s the content of this album revealing an accomplished work carried by impressive guitar parts. The guitar play injects this 80s like spirit into the work. I especially like the more shoegaze driven “Sleeping Visions”. I also like the dark-like atmosphere recovering the songs and excelling at “Ice Song” and “White Piano Black Dress”. I prefer the harder side of the work (cf. “War Planets”, “Goodbyes Without Goodbye”), but the diversity of the tracklist is enjoyable. Last, but not least, the album ends with the remarkable “We Land” creating a pure climax.

– – – : Comparisons with bands like Placebo will be unavoidable, but does it really make a point when the global production is great?!

Conclusion: A band doesn’t always have to be in the same room to compose a great production! This debut album is nice surprise and definitely a great album!

Best songs: “Goodbyes Without Goodbye”, “War Planets”, “We Land”, “Ice song”, “White Piano Black Dress”

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.loveblindband.com / www.facebook.com/loveblindband

Label: www.saintmarierecords.com / www.facebook.com/SaintMarieRecords

About Loveblind

Loveblind, later renamed We Are Loveblind, is a transatlantic project spearheaded by Saint Marie Records owner Wyatt Parkins, joined by Joshua Garman of Crash City Saints, Germany-based vocalist Dorian Electrique and Mikel Wegener of Seasurfer, and guitarist/drummer Neal Burkdoll. The members composed the debut album “Sleeping Visions”, reviewed here, over years of file transfers and video calls without ever being in the same room, releasing it in March 2020 through Saint Marie Records.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

(By Stéphane Froidcoeur aka Deranged Psyche) 2015 has been already a prolific year for the section Side-Line Reviews. As head of the Side-Line Reviews section I can only, but be extremely satisfied with the huge amount of promo material we got. Over the 700 (!) releases were selected while nearly 550 (!) have been reviewed thus far. I take the opportunity to express my gratitude to all labels, promoters and bands considering and respecting our work and efforts and this for years now.

But I also have to thank all of our readers because for their interest, support, trust and consideration. It’s a very important source of motivation to keep me moving on trying to support our lovely underground scene the best I can.

A review of course remains always ‘subjective’ and a source of discussion, but keep in mind it will be always the perception of the reviewer, but I can assure you we always try to argue our reviews the best as possible. I noticed multiple great releases during 2015; from EBM to dark-electro to IDM to synth-pop to ethereal, to dark-ambient to industrial to gothic and a few related genres I made a TOP 20 of the best albums of 2015! This selection has been made with the promotional material we got while compilations and EP’s were not selected for this ‘best of’.

Stéphane Froidcoeur (aka Deranged Psyche)

01 Irfan – The Eternal Return (CD Album – Prikosnovénie)
02 Neuroticfish – A Sign Of Life (CD Album – NOR)
03 Acylum – Pest (DCD Album – Alfa Matrix)
04 Eisfabrik – Eisplanet (CD Album & EP – SPV/NoCut)
05 Senking – Closing Eyes (CD Album – Raster-Noton)
06 Ah Cama-Sotz – State Of Mind (CD Album – Hands)
07 Karjalan Sissit – …Want You Dead (CD Album – Cyclic Law)
08 Alien Vampires – Drag You To Hell (DCD Album – Alfa Matrix)
09 Supersimmetria – Kosmogonie (CD Album – Hands)
10 Johan Baeckström – Like Before (CD Album – Progress Productions)
11 Hearts Of Black Science – Signal (CD Album – Progress Productions)
12 Dear Strange – Lonely Heroes (CD Album – Out Of Line)
13 IAMX – Metanoia (CD Album – Caroline International)
14 Legiac – The Faex Had Decimated (CD Album – Tympanik Audio)
15 Grand((Ø))Signal – Aktivation (Digital Album – Grand((Ø))Signal)
16 Encephalon – Psychogenesis (CD Album – Dependent)
17 Noisuf-X – 10 Years Of Riot (DCD Album – ProNoize)
18 Star Industry – The Renegade (DCD Album – Alfa Matrix)
19 Chainreactor – Dirt (CD Album – ProNoize)
20 Frozen Plasma – Dekadenz (CD Album – Infacted Recordings)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, minimal-pop, wave-pop.

Content: Dear Strange is a new duo based in Berlin, which caught my attention as they got signed to Out Of Line. Behind this band is hiding Romain Frequency (mainly known for his Electrosexual project) and singer Dorian E (singer of the dreampop-like Seasurfer). Both artists have already worked together in a common project called Kaleid, but Dear Strange is their newest music exposure.

I didn’t know what to expect from Dear Strange and I became really curious to know how it would sound as I’ve always supported the minimal-electro style of Electrosexual and the dreampop/shoegaze orientated Seasurfer (signed to Saint-Marie Records). Dorian E’s timbre of voice remains a great experience of a fragile timbre of voice mixed with emotion and passion. She has a unique timbre of voice leading the listener into reverie while cascading over the sound created by Romain Frequency with a delicious sensual layer.

“Lonely Heroes” doesn’t exactly sound like a debut album. You get the impression that both artists are working together for years and years. Music and vocals rapidly appear to be an ultimate artistic symbiosis. But more than this, “Lonely Heroes” features 11 songs and I can’t say that there’s one single cut to throw away. There’s a constant high level of sound quality and song efficiency resulting in several great songs. Maybe there are too many outstanding passages so it becomes difficult to tip potential hits.

The opening track “The Unicorn” has been released as single as well. I can’t say that it’s my favorite cut, but it directly indicates the sound approach of this band. It’s dark-pop minded and sweet sounding while accomplished by a real professional production process.

The title song coming up next reflects passion while coming closer to indie-pop music. The song is driven by a great, carrying chorus and a sexy touch emerging from the vocals (featuring a few French spoken words). The album moves on revealing all his secrets on “Dystopia” and “I Can See Through This”. Both songs perfectly represent the minimal pop approach of Dear Strange. There’s a fascinating mix between vintage-like sound treatments resulting in a kind of wave-pop style and special effects, which you’ll hear in the production of the vocals. The vocals sometimes become a bit mysterious and somewhat androgenic-like. I also have to mention “Strangers As We Are” for its irresistible low resonating bass line and the sumptuous chorus.

“Between The Sunsets” sounds harder through its dance-kick –which makes it very accessible for dancefloors, which is an essential element to conquer a wider and club-orientated audience. “A Hand Full Of Nothing” simply confirms the magic emerging from this work. The last few cuts remain well-crafted and totally accomplished while getting back to some wave-pop fields.

Conclusion: “Lonely Heroes” for sure is one of these albums that adds something extra to electronic-pop music. The main strength of Dear Strange is the fusion between a transcendental singer and a visionary musician.

Best songs: “I Can See Through This”, “Strangers As We Are”, “Dystopia”, “Lonely Heroes”, “Between The Sunsets”, “The Unicorn”.

Rate: (DP:9)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/DearStrange

Label: www.outofline.de / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com