ALBUM | WIRED: : Northern Kind

WIRED: released 04/04/09 available on CD and from iTunes

Reviews

May 2009

While Spotify has lots to cater for synthpop fans, some of the newer independent synthpop bands from the UK are not yet represented. Two of these artists, Northern Kind and Starbase 109 have both recently released brilliant follow-up albums. If you like bands such as Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Human League, S.P.O.C.K., Kraftwerk, or Freezepop then do yourself a favour and check out these new albums!

Northern Kind - WIRED:

Northern Kind are Matt and Sarah from Leicester in England. Their first album Fiftythreedegreesnorth was an instant hit in the synthpop community and reached number 5 on the download charts in Sweden when release a couple of years ago. It was a fantastic début and gained Northern Kind a lot of listeners, especially fans of Yazoo, Erasure, and early Depeche Mode.

Mastered by the legendary Simon Heyworth, WIRED: is Northern Kind's second album and I think it's the best synthpop album since Parralox's début last year. The first release on the new Electronically Yours label, WIRED: is a rich, lush, varied album with some fantastic pop songs and a depth and maturity that was perhaps lacking from the first album. WIRED: is still firmly synthpop, but now Northern Kind have found their own sound and are much more than a modern-day Yazoo.

Opener Pop is aptly titled: I love this song, it's perfect pop and is the ideal introduction to the album. Electric to Me is a gorgeous slow number and highlights what a talented vocalist and lyricist Sarah Heeley is. Automatic proves that Matt and Sarah could be writing for Kylie, while Dirty Youth has some of my favourite sequences on the album. Crash could have been written for Fiftythreedegreesnorth (it's one of the best Yazoo songs Vince Clarke never wrote) and album closer T&TEXT is an extended, superior remixed cut of Northern Kind's xmas song Tears and Tinsel.

DJ Gary Hunter has written an excellent review of the new album and gave it a stunning 10 out of 10 score, so head over there if you want to read more. I'd give WIRED: a 9.5, mostly because the intriguing instrumental track Un.Titled is just too short!

Stand-out tracks: Pop, Electric to Me, Automatic, Dirty Youth, Crash, T&Text

Afront : Pansentient League

May 2009

Northern Kind, love them or hate them, provide a valuable service to the electronic community. Almost alone among electronic bands they harken back to an earlier era with an unapologetic early-80s-style synth pop. Often compared (even on their own web site) to Yazoo (which I really don’t hear aside from a mild, passing tonal resemblance to Alison Moyet)Matt Culpin and Sarah Heeley have produced something that perfectly captures a feeling, an aura of days gone by without feeling derivative or cloying.

They previously released the wildly uneven 53°North which had highlights, like the delightful “You Belong” and “On & On”, but also contained a troubling amount of forgettable filler.
Wired, on the other hand is a far more consistent and enjoyable album. It was preceded by an EP that contained two songs featured on this album, and interestingly those tracks showed the two directions the album could have gone into. “Dirty Youth” is a very ordinary, album-filler song that leaves one cold, while “Into the Blue” is a lovely, rippling ballad that feels original, catchy and pretty all at the same time. It’s the latter set of reactions Softsynth feels while listening to Wired.

Admitedly, most of the tracks on the album are not ones you will necessarily remember, or be able to easily distinguish from each other (with the notable exception of the clever, inspired “Pop”), but it matters less than you’d think. The album, to a song is fun, peppy, and sparkles with an energy and creativity sorely lacking in so much of today’s electronic scene. Songs like “Electric to Me” is both original and at the same time could have been on the UK charts in 1984, with a great chorus that plays nicely with language syncopation; “Tranquil Eyes” is weird and all kinds of Autotuney, but not in a way that makes one want to claw one’s eyes out; “Un.Titled” is a trippy instrumental that reminds me of 80’s-era Erasure b-sides; “Goodbye” is a hard-charging “poor me, I’m going home” ode that sees Heeley’s voice soaring beautifully – on and on, not a bad song in the bunch and you can’t ask for much more than that. It’s not the deepest album you’ll by this year but it may just be among the most fun.

Author: Unknown

May 2009

Northern Kind are Matt and Sarah from Leicester in England. Their first album Fiftythreedegreesnorth was an instant hit in the synthpop community and reached number 5 on the download charts in Sweden when released a couple of years ago. It was a fantastic début and gained Northern Kind a lot of listeners, especially fans of Yazoo, Erasure, and early Depeche Mode.

Author: Unknown

April 2009

What a fantastic year it has been for music releases, certainly as far as I am concerned,

with the new Pet Shop Boys album "Yes", Erasure's double CD "Pop Hits" and Depeche Mode's analog treat "Sounds Of The Universe". Through my letter box on Saturday morning came the brand new album from a band who I have monitered very closely over the last 18 months or so, Northern Kind. The duo, Matt Culpin & Sarah Heeley I think are destined for big things and I have no
doubt there hard work and patience will pay off, not to mention they seem like a couple of really genuinely nice people.

On with the review ......

The first thing that struck me was the CD artwork which is really excellent, very striking and fits really well with the albums title "Wired". Ok for those that don't know "Wired" is the duo's second album, the first being "53 Degrees North" which proved very popular across europe and acheived top 10 status to with the best performance being to reach number 5 in Sweden's download chart! "53 Degrees North" was a truly fantastic album so how would the follow up "Wired" fair? Read on to found out .....

The albums opening track was influenced, according to Matt, by tapping the top of a pringles crisp tube! The track is called "Pop" and the title suggests, hooks, melodies and plenty of toe tapping and it delivers on all fronts. I have to say Matt manages to include so many aspects of hooks and melodies in his music, this track is littered with hooks and has some outstanding sounds in the track, Sarah's punchy vocals are excellent and the "Rewired" repeated vocal reminded me of Depeche Mode's new single "Wrong". A classy start to the album!

"Pleasurely That Machine" starts with a "Yazoo" feel to it, especially the "Upstairs At Eric's" album. Musically flawless with once again so much going on in the song. The sounds used blend so well on this track and I must say I think in Matt Culpin we have a new Vince Clarke, as he is very clever in his use of sounds and melodies in his songs and they are so well structured. Again Sarah's vocals are superb and I liked the little altered pitch vocal in the track ... 2 stunning tracks so far!

"Electric To me" has class written all over it the moment the track starts, very infectious melodies and sounds again. This is superb, the opening few bars draw you in immediately, an instant favorite for me with Sarah's vocals sounding outstanding. This track is that good that if someone played it to me without having a knowledge of who it was I would swear that Vince Clarke had penned this song. I love everything about this track as I am a sucker for great sounding synth melodies and this song has a bucket load of them. This I think would be an excellent choice as a single and would undoubtedly go down a storm live.

The albums 4th track "Automatic" is a cracking upbeat dance track with an array of hooks. Without sounding boring I do have to say this track has some fantastic sounds through it and the middle 8 section is punchy and catchy. This will be another live favorite without a doubt.

"Into The Blue" is a track I have been familiar with for some time as it was available as a free download last year and it is a belter, the jewel in the crown! This is the best track Northern Kind have recorded, a tortured synth ballad which deserves to be a massive hit, it's such a strong track with Matt's music complimenting Sarah's vocals perfectly. Music wise think Vince Clarke! I love the whispered vocals at the end of the track, stunning, stunning, stunning track!!!

Track 6 "Tranquil Eyes delivers in every department to with it's Kraftwerk style beat and the Pet Shop Boys sounding vocoded vocals, great lyrics on this track to and the vocals are very well delivered against Matt's wall of synthesized sound. Melodies galore and nice little bits of synth work, Matt has a unique talent of getting the right sounds for the tracks on this album.

"Dirty Youth" is another track that was available as a free download last year and it's appeal is still there. A dance track with great beats and electronics, this I think is an "Erasure" type of track with its endless hooks and sequenced sounds, Another live favorite for sure this one!

"Un.Titled" is the albums only instrumental (Love the title of this one by the way) and again is spot on, I really do like this as it gives Matt the chance to show off his talents when it comes to writing music, great soothing sounds with the song having a sequenced back drop to it.

The album's 9th track is called "Goodbye" and instantly hits you with it's melodic start, Lyrically excellent Sarah's vocals are flawless against another upbeat backing track which Mr Clarke would be proud of with a beautiful middle 8 section again! Great sounds, great melodies, great song!

"Crash" I think was the last song the duo recorded for the album and fits like a glove into the overall sound of the album, nice catchy dance track with Matt excelling in both the melodies & hooks he has written and the type of sounds he has used. A track that would fit very well on an Erasure or Yazoo album, clearly Matt is heavily influenced by Vince Clarke in his song writing and this is an exceptional example of this.

The album closes with the duo's Christmas offering "Tears And Tinsel" in extended format, this is a brilliant track all round and the longer format suits the song. The haunting beginning makes way for Sarah's great vocals with her lyrics standing out very well on this song, this is a big favorite of mine and the more I hear this version the more I like it.

It is not very often you hear an album in full that is so flawless but "Wired" has succeeded in doing that. A collection of top class songs you are ever likely to hear from an extremely talented duo. Matt has raised the bar with his music writing and his ideas are quite astounding, musically this man has all the tools to go far, that I have no doubt, and in Sarah he has found the perfect vocalist to front the band and take the whole project forward to a much higher level.

You just cannot fault the song writing, the vocals and the lyrics they have managed to record what in my view is one of the best pop albums I have ever heard and a certain Gareth Jones (Erasure Producer) was spot on with his comment that this could be the most important electronic album of the year, I second that with a review score of 10/10

Finally I must mention the production as it is perfect and I think they did the right thing in getting Simon Heyworth to master the album as it has put the gloss on a fantastic Album!

Two final thoughts, if I may, I would love to hear a 5:1 surround sound recording of this album as I think it would be stunning and secondly I think this album would lend itself to perhaps doing an additional album of extended versions.

Now you have read all that here are the details about where to find out more about Northern Kind and also to purchase the album, which I highly recommend.

Author: Gary Hunter

June 2009

Client is dead; long live Northern Kind!

Take a large helping of electronica, add more than a hint of retro, a dash of attitude, & then bestow on the combination a northern accent • The result might have been Client, Sarah Blackwood's project for the last 5 years—were it not for the fact that Client have proved themselves an increasingly boring & inept outfit, their last two albums (particularly this year's Command) stultifyingly bad & a major disappointment to those who, like myself, feel that Blackwood still has one of the finest voices in pop • Nay, nay & thrice nay, the result now has to be Northern Kind, a duo who've been active for a couple of years, & whose second album, WIRED:, was released last month •

But let's rewind to their first album, 53°N, which dates from 2007 • It's an extremely impressive debut, both capturing perfectly the synthpop sound of the early 1980s (think Erasure) as well as sounding thoroughly modern; it's not simply an exercise in nostalgia • Having mentioned Blackwood already, i should point out that Northern Kind's singer, Sarah Heeley, has a voice of similar range but different demeanour; while Blackwood is like a female Ralf Hütter (that's a compliment), Heeley has a gentle vibrato that nicely shades her singing, & prevents her sounding aloof • The first few tracks of 53°N get the ball rolling, but it's not until track 4, "Millionaire", that the album really takes off, the musical scope & horizons seeming to expand instantly • The tempo isn't that fast, but an incessant, gymnastic bassline pushes the song along relentlessly, supplemented with assorted synth melodies, electronic drums all over the place (think Pigeon Street), & some really great singing from Heeley • "Thoughts of You" at first sounds remarkably close to early Client (that's also a compliment), although far more melodic, & the chorus is nothing like them, poignant & softly melancholic (Client, like so many, mistake cynicism for melancholy) • These two are the standout tracks; of the rest, "Home" is a great song, bringing to mind mid-80s Pet Shop Boys (think Actually), Heeley even sounding rather like Neil Tennant • Also notable is "Sometimes", a hard-hitting song, with abrasive sawtooths cutting the air in & around the lyrics; "Loser", after it, is similar but more up-tempo & lyrically aggressive • It's a splendid first album, effectively presenting Northern Kind's credentials—& at this point one must mention the duo's synth-smith, Matt Culpin, who's clearly responsible in no small point for their distinctive sound •

2008 saw the release of a free digital EP, Xerotic, containing a brace of tracks, "Into The Blue" & "Dirty Youth" • The former track is down-tempo, & as close as the group has got to a ballad, interestingly drawing comparisons at times with Dubstar; it's also harmonically more interesting than many of the tracks on 53°N • "Dirty Youth", though, is outstanding, a fast, punchy floor-filler, employing a similar chord scheme to "Millionaire" but fashioning a much more exhilarating track out of it • It's a really superb song, although with my composer hat on for a moment, i'd swap the phrases of the chorus, as they'd be even more effective the other way round • It seems the original download link has vanished; get it below • Also last year appeared a little giveaway track for Christmas, "Tears & Tinsel", although i mention it purely for the sake of completeness; to be frank, it's a bit wet... •

All of which brings us to the here & now, & new album WIRED:, slated for release last Autumn, but pushed back to 2009 • The opening tracks, "Pop" & "Pleasurely That Machine", demonstrate a new kind of tautness in their music, the elements fitted together tightly, & much more variety in the elements themselves • The latter of those tracks is especially infectious, & while i have a keen dislike of remixes (due to a general lack of musicality in the results), this could be a spectacular club hit • "Electric To Me" & "Automatic" are a couple of pleasant but lacklustre songs, after which comes "Into The Blue", from the Xerotic EP, that has been gently tweaked but is otherwise identical to its earlier version • The spectre of Client resurfaces in the moody song "Tranquil Eyes", Sarahs Heeley & Blackwood sounding identical here—& while i think of it, i wish the duo would resist the urge always to multi-track Heeley's voice; maybe it's a 'trademark' sound they're after, but it starts to pall after a while • i mustn't detract from the song, though, which is pretty good, & makes nice use of vocoders in the mix • & then comes "Dirty Youth", also from last year's EP, but—immediately apparent—changed considerably from that original version • The disadvantage, which i admit i perceived first, is that it has lost the wide scope of the EP version, partly because the reverb has been turned down a lot, but also i think due to the adjusted balance; the advantages, though, are that the song sounds far more in keeping with the tone of the rest of the album, & also the vocals are sharper & clearer • Horses for courses; personally, i'd still opt for the EP version • After a peculiar little instrumental, that shows potential just at the point it ends, the album closes with three more engaging tracks • "Goodbye" adopts a strikingly similar sound to "Thoughts of You", although melodically is quite different, while "Crash" introduces some tantalising new sounds early on, but these are all too quickly subsumed in familiar synths & only glimpsed briefly in the rest of the song • The last & longest track, "T&Text", is a re-working of "Tears & Tinsel", & a huge improvement it is too, particularly the darker extended introduction •

On balance, i have to say i prefer Northern Kind's debut album to this new one; WIRED: comes across as though they'd tried rather too hard, sounding over-polished if anything • They are most definitely a duo with potential, both albums testify to that, & i'm hopeful that they might eventually bring to electronica the kind of interest & innovation that Client promised but, ultimately, failed to deliver • Both albums are available directly from the band themselves, via their online store; step this way •