Spacebuoy - Intoxicated

And, in part two of these reviews, I'll be going a bit orange, but not for any of the old ultraviolence; I'm going toward that lovely sunny color for the synthpop duo Spacebuoy. The two men behind this group, J. Allan Smith and H. Moth are two who use this line to describe their music: "Alternative synthpop... It's what we do." As plain as a statement as that may be, it holds true altogether, nonetheless.

As a bit of a side note, I absolutely love the outfits that these guys have on. If you look at their current profile picture on FaceBook, the man on the left looks like a coke dealer out of the 80s and the man on the right looks like his bodyguard. It's like the cover to a movie that's just begging to be made, and it caught my attention right away. Perhaps not what they wanted to showcase, but that's the vibe I got off.

ANYWAY, Deliverance starts off the album and delivers a nice touch. Synthpop with a faster pace and more of a focus on speedier electronics with the synth work in the background processing a slower rhythm to balance with the emotional vocals that pump out.

The title track comes in at second and does not wait a moment to break through. Following the same pattern as the song before, but with a different rhythm, this song is able to impress, as well. I would say that both How Much Does It Hurt? and So Easy also follow along in the footsteps of the previous two, however, it's in the lyrical content that this outfit really manages to output their creativity.

13 slows it down a bit and focuses on synth work a lot more than previous. The electronics are still present, along with some noisy effects here and there, but the synths dominate and manage to spin a new face on an album that was starting to get a little stale. Radiate is the first song on this album that really puts me into that 80s mood that a lot of other synthpop acts are able to do all too easily. And this song gives me those same chills, and I absolutely adored it.

Heaven Sent spoke a love song to the synths once more, they being a higher pitched this time around and working very well. December had a bit of a melancholy tone to it, which fit the title perfectly; December is settled right in the season of death, so the music accompanied the winter-esque title very well.

After a few slower songs, Sparks managed to lighten things up with a bit of a faster, but still smooth going beat. Love Detonator gave out a pretty good love song, or at least one singing about a seductive woman, and it went well. Shine was the last song, and let us off with more good synth work and a great phase to pass.

Now, the lyrical content is great, and the music, though sometimes sounding repetitious, managed to impress and make me want to listen to more, however, if I could complain about one thing in the album it would be the vocals. I'm not saying that H. Moth has a bad mouth, as he does have a quite unique set of chords that I adored, but what I did notice was that he sounded the same in a lot of the songs he performed. It's not terrible to do so, but, it also got to me and I was hoping for a change in one sense or the other.

Getting off the negative page, I should continue on with the music. There are four remixes attached to the album, including remixes from Machinista, Ashbury Heights, Heartwire, and Vogon Poetry. I'd definitely take the time to check out the synth laden remix that Ashbury Heights performed; it's one to look forward to.

Not only that, but if you should find yourself pre-ordering the album, you'll be able to snag yourself a remastered version of their 2013 EP Breathe. And, that EP definitely helped get them on the map. To get it in even better quality for free is an even better incentive to pre-order.

Now, altogether, this album is quite the package. Not only do you get eleven brand new tracks from the orange duo, but you also get four remixes from pretty good artists and their 2013 EP remastered for free. If that doesn't help convince you to go out and grab this release, perhaps this review will. Because, I will be getting a copy of this soon. I think you should follow. And paint your life a little orange. Jun 26 2014