Published by Davide Pappalardo on August 18, 2018
Known by many as Lust For Youth‘s keyplayer and sporadic second singer, Soho Rezanejad is much more: a complete artist dwelling in the worlds of music, acting (you can watch her performance in the movie The Charmer by Milad Alami, a sort of psychodrama about Iranian immigrants in Denmark) and performing. Recently she started a solo career characterized by the fusion of post-punk, new wave, ambient music, experimental electronic music and opera, with themes influenced by her studies in different disciplines. Daughter of Iranian parents, Soho was born in New York and grew up in Denmark experiencing a multicultural environment which forged her persona and interestes influenced by both western culture and her heritage.
After the synth-pop and dance inspired debut EP Idolatry (Silicone Records, 2015), the experimental cassette Uplifter (Janushoved , 2017) and her ambient/drone affairs as Angels, she presented to the world her first full length Six Archetypes (Silicone Records, 2018), an effort thematicaly influenced by Jung, analyzing different aspects of human personality and even hinting at her cultural roots, and musically by darkwave, female singers like Nico, Siouxie and Diamanda Galás, post-punk and experimental music. Now she returns with the 2-track cassette World Breathes People: a charming work driven by her beautiful voice and full of evocative synths, elegiac atmospheres, droning ambient passages.
The A side is I wasn’t made to awallow the tide, a track evoking dreamy soundscapes and melancholic visions thanks to its splendid vintage synth sounds and Soho’s vocal mantras perfectly underlined by organ sounds, bells, and sudden drums. A cinematic structure engulfs the listener, and he finds himself hypnotized by sombre sounds and mournful lines at the same time, stage for the singer’s performance, so full of narrative qualities and pathos. There is a kind of melancholic but resolute soul on display, and the track knows dark ambient moments full of ominous atmospheres during its last section.
The B side World breathes people starts as a subtle episode with majestic synths and almost whispered vocals, then developing dreamy soundscapes and eerie paths. A suave musical experience takes our hand and guides us among evocative images made of sound, employing shrilling keys and high-pitched vocals. All of the sudden the movement stops, and the voice of Soho returns in a liquid form while gloomy synths generate a touching song endorsed by experimental vocal modulations. Opera and old-school sci-fi electronics meet ambient passages, climaxing in a field-recordings’ influenced last part.
Once again Soho shows a unique vision in which 80’s dark music and various electronic genres become a template for something personal. Sounds and words move together as body and mind, and every moment is dedicated to the crafting of aural landscapes and passionate narrations with chatartic climaxes. Music as art at its best, it is really not possible to not fall in love with the sincerity and human universality of her compositions. A charming effort which is way more than a filler between albums, this is a must for any fan of soulful music .
Label: Silicone Records
Rating: 9