Dutch electronic producer Sololust apparently comes from an EBM / techno background, but the two tracks collected on this debut 7” for Enfant Terrible’s Petit Enfant sublabel (pressed on clear orange vinyl and limited to 250 copies) sees him opting for more stripped-down coldwave-influenced synthpop. On the A-side, ‘Total Loss’ offers up the more distinctly upbeat side of the equation as Sololust’s phased New Wave vocals float against noodling analogue synths and punching, sparse drum machine rhythms in a manner that calls to mind John Foxx, the retro-synth aesthetic calling to mind early Mute Records as much as it does the chillwave likes of Washed Out with its blurred sense of melancholy. Over on the flip, ‘Sight Shuffle’ gets more atmospheric and moody as a wiry synthetic pulse winds it way through forlorn-sounding synth-orchestration, the gathering snap of syn-drum snares resolving into a rigid electro groove by the track’s finish. One for the minimal synth / coldwave pop fans.
Chris Downton
*
