X Marks The Pedwalk – New / End (Album – Meshwork Music)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Body-Pop.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: X Marks The Pedwalk this year celebrates its thirty fifth anniversary. Sevren Ni-Arb and Estefania also released the newest opus of their sonic brainchild which is the eleventh album in history.
Content: Two years after “Transformation” XMTP moves on exploring Electro-Pop paths. The songs are supported with wafting atmospheres, creating a deeply space-like effect. A few ‘harder’ cuts remind us this band always has had something to do with dancefloor music. These tracks are carried by solid, EBM-orientated bass lines. Estefania remains the main singer although Sevren Ni-Arb is still singing on a few songs.
+ + + : Hard to say if I prefer this album to “Transformation” which I personally considered as the most accomplished production from the band’s Electro-Pop era. I like this new work for its subtle arrangements and global sound treatments. You can hear it in a few details and that’s precisely what makes this band different from the ‘average’ Electro-Pop formations. XMTP is not dealing with catchy melodies but privileged the atmospheric side or accentuated songs with darker bass lines and danceable kicks. “Kill Me Tonight”, “Yesterdays” and “Into The Light” are brilliant exposures of the composer’s talent.
– – – : The album only features 9 songs and that’s maybe a bit too short. I’m not that fond of the ‘softest’ cuts which however inject diversity in the tracklist.
Conclusion: X Marks The Pedwalk remains a warrant for creative and exciting Electro-Pop music. “New / End” is a styled piece of Electronics.
Best songs: “Into The Light”, “Kill Me Tonight”, “Yesterdays”, “Wonder”, “Miss Me”.
Rate: 8½.
Artist: www.x-mtp.com / www.facebook.com/xmarksthepedwalk
Label: www.meshwork-music.com / www.facebook.com/meshwork.music
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.
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