Sylvarluxe
And then she heard the echo of the BIG BANG
Skymir Music

Sylvarluxe return with a new record that's as mired in art rock as the last one was. This time Richard Sylvarnes and Katy Lewis are less beholden of elegance and decadence, and more interested in apocalyptic visions of a future that behaves like our present day.

The terrifying front cover reminds me of a Doctor Who episode ("The Empty Child" from 2005) where adults and children alike merged physically with gasmasks, becoming soulless creatures forever calling for a lost mother. "Raining Glass and Steel" voiced by a child-like chanteuse, blank with terror is like an early experiment in horror by David Sylvain. "Cover my mouth with your hand I don't want the neighbors to hear" sings Lewis, her narrative voice more concerned with maintaining decorum than facing her fear of death. "Goodnight Ian Curtis" laments the brave lost Joy Division singer with Sylvarnes sounding like David Byrne's compassionate brother. The delicate backing shivers with spidery echoes of synths. "The Silent Country" talks about slipping away from constant electronic surveillance to the Utopia of the silent country. "If you try to send a signal then there's no one receiving" it notes distressingly. Katy Lewis is as ever a siren of detachment, a Madonna of the machine, as unreachable as the silent country. "Don't Worry About The Government" is ironic of course, we should always worry about the doings of politicians.

The music blips and swells with majestic indifference as they sing of a world crumbling to pieces while the ice cubes in the glasses at the party silently clink. The hostess is grinning. The new Sylvarluxe album paints a horrifying and true image of our world and avoids easy answers where none can be found.

Copyright © 2008 Anna Maria Stjärnell