Sounds Of Sputnik
New Born
Moon Sounds Records
New Born, the debut album from Sounds of Sputnik, was reissued May 16 via Texas-based Moon Sounds Records. The album had previously been released through Ear to Ear Records in the U.K. and at the Sounds of Sputnik Bandcamp site. Roman Kalitkin, the Russian artist behind the music project, delivers a captivating set of tunes on New Born that melds the Electronic, Dream-Pop, and Noise-Rock genres.
Kalitkin collaborated with a slew of talented guest artists on New Born, developing an especially close association with the Canadian-Ukrainian Dream-Pop duo Ummagma.Β Shauna McLarnon and Alexx Kretov of Ummagma worked with Kalitkin to create the heady blend of musical styles found on New Born and also provided vocals on several tracks.
Guest drummer Graham Bonnar (Swervedriver, Brian Jonestown Massacre) appears on βOverdrive,β while Malcolm Holmes (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark), producer Fran Ashcroft (Damon Albarn, Lords of Acid), Russian producers Morozov and Oleg Mezherovsky, and Brazilβs Mind Movies each had a hand in specific remixes that are included on the album.
The sound and lyrics (written by McLarnon) of New Born reflect upon the hope of a better world where borders and barriers come down and what unites humanity is more powerful than what divides it. Kalitkin, McLarnon, and Kretov have all experienced the oppression and red tape of autocratic governmental control, and their struggles inform New Bornβs songs.
Opening number βNew Bornβ features McLarnon singing steadfastly and positively, βWeβre waking up inside / No longer afraid / β¦Aim our light outside,β amid contemplative piano notes, lowering guitar jags, and cymbals that tap and shimmer. She carves out breathy sighs between her words as the piano notes dance through unspooling electric guitar distortion.
βLight Schemeβ dazzles with quickly hit piano note refrains, buzzing guitars, and McLarnon and Kretovβs traded off vocal lines. McLarnonβs airy tone bounces off of Kretovβs shadowy register as they patiently draw out their words, singing optimistically, βI can see the road before me / Doorβs wide openβ¦βΒ They are accompanied by guitar lines that curve gloriously skyward and a rapidly accelerating drum beat.
Kalitkinβs instrumental βBlizzardβ is filled with slowly resonating acoustic guitar strings that are progressively overlaid with the busy electronic patter of symphonic strings and the smolder of crackling electric guitar lines. The result is a warming effect that belies the songβs title. A refreshing cascade of reverberating synths closes the track, simulating the crystalline twinkle of falling snowflakes.
Kalitkinβs stark, The Church-like (with a touch of My Bloody Valentine at times) instrumental βShades of the Cosmosβ follows, steering through with a highly distorted bass line grind and a steady drum tattoo. Occasional cymbal crash, see-sawing strings, and a second, more reflective guitar line, round out the sonics.
Ponderous, low-register strings start off the delightful βOverdriveβ before an upbeat tempo kicks in and McLarnon materializes, singing in sweetly light, Liz Fraser-like fashion that, ββ¦now the time is right / β¦got to slow things down / Put a brake on problems oldβ¦β Guitar lines that alternately sound like chimes or lasers zip by, while Bonnarβs propulsive drumming and cymbals scintillation push the song forward.
On βNew Born (Malcolm Holmesβ OMD Remix),β Holmes reconfigures the original song by adding a tranquil, expansive ambience of spacey synth notes and a slowed-down pace. He separates the instruments and McLarnonβs vocals from each other so that they each stand out on their own. Mezherovsky crafts βNew Born (Oleg Mezherovsky Remix)β into an alluringly unfurling dance floor number that steps up the tempo and mixes in deeper synth notes, a livelier rhythm, and the pull of bittersweet strings.Β Morozov brings in a house element to βNew Born (Morozov Remix)β, focusing on prominent piano notes and blending in a lightly skittering tribal rhythm.Β He uses loops of McLarnonβs wistfully aching sighs as an accent to the already instrumentally bustling number.
Mind Movies stamps his take with electronic soul-rock uplift on βLight Scheme (Mind Movies Remix),β highlighting the rumbling bass line, bright laser blips, and humming, organ-like notes. Ashcroft spotlights McLarnon and Kretovβs vocals on the dreamy βLight Scheme (Fran Ashcroft Remix),β meshing their lofty voices into the lushly drifting, dream-pop sonic cloud.
ArtistΒ Links
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SOUNDS OF SPUTNIK – NEW BORN
Jen Dan