by Ján Peter Háber | Dec. 02, 2021 |
For many people Denmark is musically unexplored country. I confess, for me too. Maybe that’s why I was even more curious about the news from the EK Produkt label. When I first pressed play, there were tones that strongly remind me of the late hit of the German Project Pitchfork Lament. With the following seconds and the onset of singing, the similarity gradually disappeared. The album floats in pleasant electropop and synthpop waters for fifty minutes. So who is behind this new release? SECOND COMPLEX is the solo debut of Dan Beck, a member of the Danish synth-pop band Vaylon.
This one was formed in the early 90’s of the last century. Seventh studio album Legacy was released last year. Dan’s solo therapy (Therapy) doesn’t look so dark compared to the last record of his home band. Even so, there is more than enough melancholy in it. The songs flow beautifully, mostly in the middle tempo. Even an attentive listener will understand the geniality of connecting individual synthesizer links after few listening. And that’s not the only positive of this album at all. Every moment counts. Music as therapy or asylum. As for the listener, so for the creator. This is a well-known recipe. And the result is really precise. Dan Beck also composes synthesizer and bass lines in his long-standing band. He had a free hand on the solo album and in a way he really went crazy. Sometimes he also spices up his music with his guitar. Other artists such as Brian Hazard, Laura Noszczyk, Daniel Hall, Tomas Gustafsson, Neil Francis, Frank J. Freda and Ole Ulrich Jensen sings on Dan’s debut.
Ole Ulrich Jansen is also the singer of the already mentioned Dan’s home band Vaylon. The vocalists have quite similar voices and interpretations. I admit that even after seventh listening, I did not notice the difference between the men’s vocals. Maybe it’s because the whole album is very compact. But definitely not boring. I liked the faster Regrets, the captivating Solid Ground, the introductory Drowned, or the more rugged Asylum. Although all the songs are worth listening to. There are many original ideas in each.
The songs may seem very simple at first, but they are really more complex and really intelligent. About the debut of SECOND COMPLEX called Therapy could also be written that it’s composed according to Synthpop’s handbook. Or better yet, that it is one. There is no deviation from the style, as well as unpredictable experiments. On the other hand, lovers of synthpop and electropop are usually very sensitive to such things and very picky. For fans of genre, it is a necessity and a pleasant wait for the new Depeche Mode. With SECOND COMPLEX, many will surely forget about it. Fresh songs where there is still something new to discover.
Very nice album, I can also recommend it to fans of bands like Mesh, Peter Heppner/Wolfsheim, Camouflage or Melotron. A very pleasant thing and not only for long winter evenings. I recommend opening a good wine and to immerse yourself in it even for several times in a row. Every tone is exactly where it should be. Delicacy. Let the synth/futurepop fanatics calmly add at least one more point to the final evaluation.