Artist: Trentemøller
Album: Fixion
Label: In My Room
Release date: 16/09/2016
Trentemøller's electronic compositions from previous full lengths, particularly The Last Resort and Into the Great Wide Yonder, have held firm position in my playlists for some years, thanks to the Danish artist being able to showcase melancholic matter in a form that insists light can radiate from within the depths of dejection.
As a personality that is self-admittedly on the whole contented, his penchant for melancholic fields of sound can be, as he has suggested, attributed to the fact that as an artist he has an outlet for any inbuilt sadness. If this is the case, from a brief, initial taster of Fixion, it's evident that those blue vibes remain an intrinsic part of who is he. The opening track, 'One Eye Open', once again unveils his ability to take on more than the electronic genre with a pop rock sensibility heard in precision bass parts and glittering synths, which carries on into the body of the vocalic second track, 'Never Fade'.
As aforementioned, his trademark melancholy continues to hold pole position and is readily unearthed in tracks such as 'Sinus' in its overcast, imposing bleakness. 'River In Me' poses a detour from the introspective gloom as it kicks in with a flurry of eighties-esque, new-wave clatter and Jehnny Beth of the Savages lending her tenacious vocals. 'Redefine' can be likened to pertain to post-punk industrial bands of decades past - notably, Joy Division.
It seems that Trentemøller's early experimentations with indie rock bands and the influences of Manchester rock and dance icons resurfaced to hold a major influence and consequently, heavier industrial sounds have replaced the mellowed, minimal electro sounds that once defined him.
For a further insight into his visionary quest, the title, Fixion, was decided because he's seduced by the notion that you can build up an imaginary world with music. To him, music is fiction and in this light it isn't completely detached from reality; rather both exist together as a whole.
His various works across the albums, compilations, singles, Eps and remixes that rest within his vast discography, have attracted very little negative feedback, and this output is unequivocally set to keep him on a trajectory of thundering praise.
Tracklist
1. One Eye Open
2. Never Fade
3. Sinus
4. River In Me
5. Phoenicia
6. Redefine
7. My Conviction
8. November
9. Spinning
10. Circuits
11. Complicated
12. Where the Shadows Fall
