In 2006 they were labeled as the new stars of British music: suddenly the spotlight turned on, hordes of fans accompanied a planetary success to the sound of the single "Golden Skans", the majors began to gloat over the idea of future revenues. For the band, a well deserved success. This was “Myths Of The Near Future”. Then, three years of silence.
Among a long list of rejected producers, among the ire of the majors (who out of spite have refused various auditions sent by the group, because they were considered too experimental) and among unlikely rumors about the change of sound, no one would have ever bet even a cent on the Klaxons . Indeed, perhaps it would only focus on their end. 2010. Softly and almost snubbed even by those fans who a few years earlier had shouted for a miracle, “Surfing The Void”, the band's second work, was released. The predictions are completely overturned, since the CD is a small pearl, raw but equally shining.
" Echoes"Opens the album and at the same time closes the thread that tied the Klaxons to their debut, it is a sort of" Golden Skans "adapted: an initial feedback leads the way to the first convincing melody, as convincing is all the rest of the song, especially the refrain. Don't be surprised if, after listening to it, you will find yourself unconsciously humming it. At this point it is inevitable to think “Nice, the Klaxons have thrown out old-fashioned CDs”, but a moment is enough to be proven wrong.
"The Same Space”Is the first of a long line of tests. The departure is dragged, the voice goes to a wedding with the rhythm made vague and dispersive by the synths, but at the same time the same rhythm is marked by the bass line and the drumming. All this is lost in a few moments of noise, then brought back on the straight path from the guitar and a battery that shows the muscles.
"Surfing the void”, Third track, is a sort of patient with a fever of 40 who is delirious. The opening of the guitar is hysterical and schizoid, you can breathe a surreal area, perceiving traces of schizophrenia is not difficult between guitars and synths that constitute the perfect springboard for an awkward vocal melodic. When it starts "Valley Of The Calm Trees”We are now convinced of the Klaxons turning point. A sort of toxic pop dominates the scene, vaguely reminiscent of the latest MGMTs ... a pop that reaches its highest point in the usual masterfully constructed refrain, before the fumes caused by the toxic clouds result in a closure due, probably, to some psychedelic drug .
"Hikaru”Is opened by a drum groove embraced by synths, a groove that then flows into a sort of indie soaked in LSD, acid sounds accompany a voice that is at times disturbing, but incisive and hypnotic in the choruses.
When it starts "Extra astronomical”For a moment I seem to listen to the Prodigy, a sensation that immediately disappears at the first dark outburst of the piece. Shady motifs and pounding rhythms alternate during the piece: the result is three schizophrenic minutes that create a kind of pleasant and stimulating restlessness.
The delightful "Twin flames", Where you can take a breath and relax before"flashover"You immediately re-attract attention with your convincing and engaging intro, attention that during the piece is almost transformed into alienation, with the alternation of the countless phases of the piece that kidnaps and jumps with disarming ease from one opposite to another, until you reach minute 4, when after a boiling cauldron you simply move on to a piano accompanied by the voice (and here it will be difficult not to smile complacently).
It is the duo "Future Memories" / "Cypherspeed" to close the cd, the first more conventional, the second decidedly more crazy, where the bass opens to the nth pitch, the melody of the synth is exasperated by the other instruments until it sucks you in away, the keyboards go crazy and slip away in a crescendo to be savored and deciphered. Caparezza sang “The second album is always the most difficult in the career of an artist”: surely the Klaxons will agree with him, given the long and painful labor. Yet the birth was definitely up to the various sufferings. Easy and at the same time visionary melodies, adrenaline-fueled beats, various instruments with foaming at the mouth, strident and unscrupulous sounds, all amalgamated into a mixture that you would like to savor over and over again.
THE PROPERTY
Klaxons
Surfing the void
Label: Polydor
1 “Echoes” 3:45 2.
2 “The Same Space” 3:11 3.
3 “Surfing the Void” 2:30 4.
4 “Valley of the Calm Trees” 3:16 5.
5 “Henusia” 4:08 6.
6 “Extra Astronomical” 3:17 7.
7 “Twin Flames” 4:19 8.
8 “Flashover” 5:07 9.
9 “Future Memories” 3:42 10.
10 "Cypherspeed"
