Daily Planet - Two

A bit of an odd story, but Daily Planet really hasn't been heard of since 1996 when their debut album, The Tide, released. What should have made them fairly popular did not really show the light of day; though tracks such as "Milky Way" and "Radioactive Love" found fans, the act just died. The lead vocalist of the project, Jarmo Ollila went on to release three successful albums via Progress Productions under the moniker Mr Jones Machine, but Daily Planet would not see much love.

However, eighteen years after all was said and done, Both Jarmo and his partner in crime Johan Baeckström return to the scene with Two, an eleven track synthpop album that tries to return to roots without trying to be a boring retro band like so many others.

And, with Forgiven hitting us off at the start, with a delightfully pleasant synthpop feel that goes at a mid-tempo, it's easy to see why these guys aren't just trying to go down a nostalgia trip; they're utilizing simple electronics, lovely vocals, and a bright beat to give their synthpop a nice edge. The chorus is pretty epic when the synths take a bit more of a stand, the vocals get a bit higher in pitch, and it was lovely.

Though I thought when he sung out the same phrase the song is titled was a bit off, Fragile still managed to kick out another lovely tune. Slower, emotional, and soothing; this one definitely had all the makes for another good song.

Afraid wasn't afraid to let out some more lovely synth work; perhaps more eighties sounding, and though they try not to be a retro band or sound like one, this track definitely had a slight feel to it in that sense. Nothing wrong with that by far; it was awesome.

Sung out like a love song, Stay With Me just moved slowly, put a bit of a chorus effect on the vocals here and there, though World In Grey picked the pace back up. It focused on shorter electronics, rather than synths, and was bubbly through and through.

And, to avoid repeating myself a bit too much, most of the other tracks follow in similar format; not one sounds too alike the next, but there's not much that really differentiates them other than different electronics being thrown in at different tempos. Alone added in a touch of drum work which was nice, and Trust kicked out a very nice dance tune, but the others I really couldn't find much new to say about them.

And though I do find myself without saying much for the latter half of the album, I can still say that this release contains some lovely and nice synthpop work. It has the mechanization down real properly: bright, fluid, dance worthy, and soothing all at the same time. After eighteen years of absence, you can say that these guys haven't lost their touch when it comes to making music. Aug 27 2014