Chris Corner presents us his 6 solo albums with IAMX! This summer he launched Happiness and played recently a great gig in the AB, Brussels. Electronica and melancholia lovers will be pleased!
I’m a big fan of electronic music, for sure if it has a melancholic touch, a bit like Marc Almond does or more recently SHIV-R and with the new IAMX we get it all! First track No Make Made Me has something mysterious and sounds very catchy within the electronic sound. I even hear some Nine Inch Nails and Marc Almond influences (sound wise and vocal wise). The female backings give it something erotic.
Happiness is already a big hit (check out the Gary Numan remix, it’s really worth it too): warm but melancholic electronics with a touch of Depeche Mode. It’s a slow grower, but gets fast to be an earworm. The acoustic touch is a great extra, just as the desperate screaming and the bleeps. North Star is very catchy with lots of break beats and high pitched voice, a bit like Skrillex. Say Hello Melancholia is a slow track, but filled with emotions and giving goosebumps! The vocals reach a high and this one might be actually my favorite track on the album!
The Background Noise is a weird track about something that happens to me sometimes too, slowly the tempo rises and the tracks ask for your attention. Not a bad song at all! Insomnia is the logical lyrical follow up track, carried by a great piano and hypnotical beats. Once again the vocals mesmerize me! Look Outside is another electronic/mysterious track with a high Marc Almond feel. At some point it even sounds as if it’s meant to have a sacred feel. Oh Cruel Darkness Embrace Me is a cool track with stomping beats, as if on a marching rhythm (and is the second single from the album).
Check out the Aesthetic Perfection remix version! More beats and a high pitched voice comes with Aphrodisiac that almost sounds like the new Blur. I feel this one can be the third single; it has more than enough potential to become a hit! Back to the mysterious and slow tempo tracks and filled with lots of pathos with Surrender. Wildest Wind is the last track, almost a melancholic ballad. For me it’s a perfect end track for this very melancholic album. It feels as beating the crap out of bad stuff in our own life and looking forward to a better future …
It was a blast and I had a great time. I hope the world will furthermore embrace this great artist (originally from the UK, but living now in the US)!
