This new album from Belgian mastermind Jan Dewulf aka Mildreda expands on the template set by his previous effort: impressive atmospheric, dark, electronic industrial with pummeling beats. This time around however, he has also moved into a more Vancouver-inspired sound, à la Dead When I Found Her.
It should be right up my alley, and it works well. I did have to put in a lot of work though, as at first I thought all the songs sounded basically the same. I was probably a bit daunted by all the “Reality Check” interludes which turn up after every track, a sort of short, usually ambient palate-cleanser before the next main track comes on. When I started to focus on the “proper” songs, things opened up quite a bit.
It’s a splendid effort, and Jan sure knows how to concoct a potent brew of hard beats, movie samples and heaps of sweeping pads and strings. No track does anything particularly new, however, and it’s a bit hard to remember some of the songs afterwards. There are highlights of course, such as the very danceable and sort of Leæther Strip-ish “Götterfall” and the eminently dramatic “Damage Done” which both have recognizable motifs and recurring themes. “Faded” should also be headed to the nearest dance floor.
I applaud Dewulf’s ambition on “Realities”, and it’s a great successor to his previous material – enough of a step forward but still in the same wheelhouse.
