Slave Republic - Quest for Love

German Slave Republic has a very non-German sound to their synthpop. If I would not know any better, I would probably guess the UK, United States or perhaps Scandinavia (and by that I mean Sweden or Norway, I'm just trying to be a bit nice to Denmark, Finland and Iceland). Their sound can be described as a mature and modern take on the 80's synthpop.

'Quest for Love' is the band's second album after the debut 'Electro One' from 2010, also released by Accession Records. The debut album passed me by, but it's available on Spotify, so I will probably catch up on that whenever time will find its place in my life.

Right from the start, we get the hit of this release; "Paint it Black". Perfect flow, amazing melody and that superb 80's feeling to it. I'm getting old school Depeche Mode vibes from this one and it's a perfect 10 out of 10 track.

There's another nine tracks (and three remixes from Daniel Myer, Absolute Body Control and Tonkollegium) and three of them stand out and feel separated from the crowd. Two of them is not in a good way. "Primärreiz" featuring Torben Wendt from Diorama and "Promises and Broken Hearts" both have a much more heavier and EBM-influenced sound to it. Part from the fact that neither of them are that good, they simply do not fit and cut up the other nice flow and makes it bleed. However, the third stand out track is "Ménage Á Trois" and this French titled tune is simply a radio pop smash hit. Is it working well together with the rest of the tracks, no, but it's one hell of a tune and worth checking out.

The other tracks, "Walking Ghost", "Emptiness" "Fall Asleep", "Lover's Suicide", "Lashes Kiss" and the ballad "Quest for Love" are all good and solid synthpop tunes and all together, it makes 'Quest for Love' an enjoyable release worth both your time and money. Mar 21 2013