Right from the first song you can tell this new album from the morose goth project is more fine tuned. The guitar sounds great and has more of an 80's pop sound to it.The vocals are slightly muffled and sit back in the layers of guitar and synth. This is one of the subtle touches that keeps this from being more of a pop album. At the four minute mark the song feels like it is being dragged out a little but the song is more impressive than anything I have heard from this act so far. The drum programming takes on more of a Cocteau Twins cadence on "By Design" this is further highlighter by the lush guitar. Far more introspective and dark than the opener. At the minute and a half mark there is some motion in the ocean as it edges toward the dance floor.
Things get more introspective and shoe-gazing on "Not Just a Name". This sets a tone that makes me think Deb Demure is taking the music just as seriously as his make up slathered persona. There is a more light-hearted new wave feel on " Too Soon to Tell" that doesn't engage me as much as some of the more somber dreamy songs like " Cold Souls" which follows it. This song naturally progress into something with more of a goth groove to it. The pace really expedites things to the dance floor for the more dark wave " Kissing the Ground". While it's more surreal nature doesn't make "Forget Tomorrow" the album's most well crafted song there is something to it's murky gray mood that works for me.
The dark wave pulse of "Behind the Wall" closes the album out. It is some where between depressive and dancey so not that different than the general tone already established on the album. The chorus gets marginally more hopeful. I think over all this album shows a great deal of maturity and growth for Demure and I can now take him seriously as an artist. I'll round this up to an 8.5 and contemplate loading this on my iPod, it might grow on me even more with time. Dais Records releases this January 20th.
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