Backlash - Heliotrope

The album 'Heliotrope' is the Swedish group Backlash's second full-length album. The first one, 'Impetus', were released 2001. During the time in between the two albums the group took the time to change singer, from the female voice of Malin Andersson to this male voice, Erik Thorstensson. When I personally prefer a female voice over a male voice in the matter of electro pop, this became a loss by the exchange.

The album is often calm and dreary, while some parts are more pop, but not in the sense that it is trolling synthpop, it's more melancholy electro pop with swinging synth loops. It never comes up to that expected height, the beat never becomes that expected danceable beat.

'Heliotrope' is not an album I would go and buy to my collection, because there already exists albums with De/Vision, Depeche Mode, Elegant Machinery and Mobile Homes - Hurt. The fact is that this sounds like a mix of those groups, with some modern sounds added and drearier, more calm and more melancholy. Two less dreary tracks to mention are the first one "Lodestar" and track number nine "Splinter". Despite the dreariness it's good; sometimes really good.

This review was made 2004 by Jenny Sjöström and has been published with her consent. It was initially published on Neurozine.com Jan 01 2004