Named after a speech programme designed to replicate the human voice, VX-323’s debut album is a stark affair with moments of both brilliance and banality.
A quick scope of the tracklist is enough to determine this isn’t a typical debut album.
Credited to a robot, VX-323’s songs, such as “Factory Blues”, “When Your Gone” and the provocative, double entendre terminology of “Laptop”, deal with mostly android issues, though some tracks include loopy themes of human interaction with technology.
Billion Dollar Condo
As a whole, Chansons is a strange album with a do-it-yourself, retro feel. At times it wouldn’t be out of place to imagine an android from the original Star Trek mixing this disc with old school record scratches, high hats and chill out electronica.
The songs fall somewhere between the stoic keyboard wizardry of Kraftwerk and the computer love of Information Society, and feature a mechanical robotic voice similar to the turbo-charged vocals Benny Benassi used in their 2002 club track “Satisfaction”.
But while “Satisfaction” featured the robotic voice sparingly (only one verse, repeated several times), VX-323 uses such manipulated vocals throughout, creating the album’s biggest problem.
Night Time
While a few tracks using this formula are catchy, such as “Night Time”, the over use of the robotic vocals comes off as overkill after a whole album.
Vocals in music in general and electronica in particular, allow a listener to relate to the piece, possibly one reason why instrumentals rarely hit the pop charts.
Human vocals, regardless how mindless and repetitive the lyrics can be in techno and dance music, clash with the often icy electronic atmosphere of a song’s soundscape, warming it to a point where dancers/ listeners feel the music’s soul and identify with it as their own.
On this record there are many bright spots in the sleek, well-produced backing music, such as on the synth coffee break of “Espresso”, but devoid of this ‘human touch’, there’s not much to catch a listener’s ear and warrant repeat listens.
Factory Blues
Musically speaking, Chansons is a fine effort and an interesting experiment. But once the novelty of the robotic voice wears thin, the album becomes repetitive.
Scott Burgess has been a lyricist and producer for several New Wave and synthpop bands since 1986 and has also been a music software developer and has enough talent to secure a bright future in electronica. However, lining up talented vocalists and discarding the robot would breathe more soul into his future releases.
Chansons is available at all digital outlets.
James W. Coates - A nomad at heart, James W. Coates has been combining his passion for music, writing and traveling ever since his father packed the family ...
