OCTOLAB THE TIMELESS ROOM ALBUM CRYONICA MUSIC RELEASE: DECEMBER, 2007 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 13, 2008

Fredrik Lundvall has been active within the elctronic music community for quite a while now, including duties in Novelty (their sole 1997 album is partly brilliant), Cosmic Dog, Presto Fervant and more recently Spektron where both Lundvall and vocalist Arielle Andersson were members.

The bulk of "The Timeless Room" bounces effortlessly between modern dance music and contemporary synthpop, fending off the "old school" label without struggle. Some bass lines may lean more towards EBM, but the playful melodies and chorus driven approach soon dent that image. Arielle Andersson has realized her vocal limitations and has adopted a breezy, cool singing style uncommon for the female synthpop vocalist.

As far as Swedish synthpop goes, this was utterly refreshing as Octolab carefully steers clear of the most common cliches of the genre. Without losing the powerful strengths and features associated with it.

NIKLAS FORSBERG