TEN AFTER DAWN is an electronic/industrial dark-pop band from Helsinki that recently came onto my radar, formed by Teemu Salo and Toni Viholainen. These genres are usually not up my alley, but I was in the mood to try something a bit different, so I figured this was a good place to start, especially considering their upcoming show with COVENANT.
Before I get into the music, I want to give plenty of points for the album title and the album art, as well as the single art, which you can see just below. The cover art is simple, yet effective, and the single art should fill any young Goth with delight (wait, do Goths feel delight?).
My first impression upon listening to the EP is that I was a tad surprised at how laid-back the music is. It certainly has energy, but I wouldn’t call the songs speedy by any means. The industrial influences are quite evident throughout, while the first track and first single to be released tomorrow (March 31st, 2017), entitled “Melody,” reminded me greatly of ’80s new wave music (think TEARS FOR FEARS) in the way the vocals in the chorus sound in particular – something that I’m not overly fond of but works quite well in this construction. “Melody” is an interesting track in that it’s a bit different from the rest – it has a bit higher energy and more synth than the rest, and while it has a distinctly industrial sound, it also sounds a bit more poppy and less Goth-oriented. There is definite dance potential in this song for live scenarios.
“Gone” has a gentle intro with a slow build-up of synth, and reminds me of music I listened to in a Goth once club long ago, bringing up a bit of fond nostalgia. The song is quite simple but feels fairly effective with its nice ambience. This is followed by “Scarlett,” which has a slightly mechanical intro, building up nicely into a funky synth beat, a bit speedier than its predecessor. Lastly, we have “Tell Me,” which has a pretty cool sound throughout and is again a fair bit livelier than “Gone” and has some of the most interesting vocal lines since “Melody,” making the album feel quite good, flow-wise.
On the whole I would say that this EP feels quite successful. It’s hard to say really, as I personally find this genre of music on the whole to be a bit dull or repetitive, but TEN AFTER DAWN has managed to create some nice melodies and I can’t complain about the vocal sound or beat as well. As such, I’m fairly certain that anyone who is interested in this dark pop genre might find it worth their while to give it a listen.
Written by Bear Wiseman
Musicalypse, 2017
OV: 1815
Tracklist
- Melody
- Gone
- Scarlett
- Tell Me
Lineup
Teemu Salo
Toni Viholainen
Label
Macaroni Penguin Music
Links
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