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[one_half last=”yes”]ALCOHOLIC FAITH MISSION
Orbitor
Release-Date: 20.02.2015
Label: Haldern Pop Recordings
Tracklist:
01. Orbitor
02. Another you
03. Everyone’s got dynamite
04. Crystalized night
05. Come here wash in over me
06. Cut you up
07. The best day of my life
08. Let in all the ghosts
09. Time to bring the war
10. Dream in silence
11. Breaking for the last time
NBHAP Rating: 4/5
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The Name Game.
Band names are important, and there are certain ones that just cause a reviewer’s heart to sink when they drop into his or her inbox. And ALCOHOLIC FAITH MISSION is one of those names. It just seems like it would belong to a bunch of English ex-public schoolboys desperately trying to buy some Americana county-folk ‘authenticity’ by namechecking grizzled alcoholism and religion. The kind of musical trend, in short, that’s been depressingly prevalent ever since the Mumfords’ banjo-bludgeoned the world into believing that pretending to be WOODY GUTHRIE and wielding a fiddle was somehow culturally relevant in the 21st Century. Despite their name, ALCOHOLIC FAITH MISSION are, luckily, nothing like that. They’re a Danish electronic band now based in Brooklyn who have just put out their sixth album Orbitor.
Vulnerability and edge.
The opening (and title) track opens with two minutes of atmospheric synths, before singer Thorben Seierø Jensen finally makes his appearance. The Best Day Of My Life operates in the same neon-synth territory that Johnny Jewel of the CHROMATICS specialises in. Crystalized Night is a clear highlight, combining its pulsing momentum with real emotional heft (‘Every time you let me go, I let you down’) and deadened angst (‘Now I know the worth of pain pills’). And beneath all the pretty noise, there’s a real vulnerability to this album. It’s full of revealing little lines, from ‘I never knew this silence would cut you up’ to ‘Perfectly innocent is never coming ‘round again’.
Slick, competent pop.
Stylistically, it’s an elegant blend of sounds, with hints of all the most successful electronic artists of the past decade from ANIMAL COLLECTIVE to PASSION PIT. ALCOHOLIC FAITH MISSION have a knack for crafting songs which start off low-key and then explode into utterly massive choruses. It’s an adventure in slick, mature electronic pop by a band who’ve been around for a while and have clearly found their sound and know what they’re doing. Could still do with a better name though.
Eleven tracks loaded with depth and quality, ‘Orbitor’ is a competent, polished exercise in synth-pop from an established band hitting top form.
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