Electro duo Hamerkop filch the melodic synth pulse of the likes of Suicide, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Blancmange, add glacial female vocals of their own and ride the whole charabang to the oasis of consumate bliss on their great new album Remote.
The end result is the polar opposite of remoteness to be frank. This is a consummate, warm and immediate record, sounding quite of its time though the fuel that fires its engine is clearly that of the Synth wave of the early Eighties.
By the time guitar appears prominently for the first time on the title track I was hooked. This comes across as the kind of thing Paul McCartney might have come up with had he been inspired by Kraftwerk as greatly as he had been by Little Richard. The melody on display here is utterly fabulous. Hamerkop comprise Kiwi singer and multi-instrumentalist Ananbel Alpers and drummer and Baltimore drummer and studio engineer Adam Cooke. Together they sculpt an altogether alluring sound that hints at moments of transcendental catharsis.
Weirdly, I was thinking of recommending this to you! One of my albums of last month, after having The Splendour That Was Rome pop up on Spotify. Had it on in the car this morning...
ReplyDeleteGood record!
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