Nine Seconds is the rather unexpected collaboration between ex-Sleepwalk-singer Oliver Spring and the No Comment founders Rene Ebner and Thomas Kowa. I didn’t exactly imagine a singer of harsh electronics joining hands with refined synth-pop musicians. And yet it happened and this album was preceded by the 12” vinyl “Irresolution”, which was self-released. Space Race Records – the subdivision of EK Product must have heard this vinyl and Nine Seconds was signed in a split-second of time.
This official debut is featuring 12 songs + 3 bonus cuts (remixes). The 4 songs featured on “Irresolution” were released in a different mix on the album. One of them “Girl Panic” is a real highlight mixing elements of EBM and synth-pop together. The mix of both styles perfectly stands for the sound of Nine Seconds. I didn’t exactly expect the band being that EBM-minded, but it brings some extra power to the global sound and production.
Talking about the production, I was simply amazed by Oliver Spring’s vocal production. If you remember his heavy, distorted way of singing in Sleepwalk you better now get prepared to hear Oliver singing a rather clear and alluring way. He’s not the typical pop-singer with a beautiful voice, but his timbre of voice totally fits to the body-pop style of Nine Seconds.
“Irresolution” is a quite noticeable song to illustrate the influences of the band. “Victim” is another noticeable piece featuring a tiny flavor of 80s electronics. The cover version of Trans-X’ “Living On video” was already released on the 12” as well, but remains a fair cover.
No Comment has always revealed great global production skills and that’s one of the most noticeable elements on this new project as well. They didn’t spare any effort to create an alluring sound arsenal, which for sure is one of the main strengths of “Poladroids”.
Among the 3 remixes I noticed a cool remix of “Burn Superstar Burn” by Bak XIII. I expected much more out of the Vomito Negro-remix, but it for sure is an interesting name on this debut album.
A successful debut for Nine Seconds holding in their hands an album with a few great songs. There’s a perfect match between EBM and synth-pop and this album seduced me much more than the 12”.