La Lune Noire - Dictator [Svinx Records]

Incoming from the Netherlands only recently was "Dictator", the latest album outing by the Dutch outfit La Lune Noir. Put on the circuit via Svinx Records on October 20th, 2k18 the band is - at least according to the press info coming with the album - paying homage to Charlie Chaplin and his closing speech in "The Great Dictator" titlewise, opening the ride with "We Have Lost The Way" which can be described as balancing the line between epic FuturePop and modernistic, Trance-infused EBM employing panoramic synths and heavy riffing, "Hate" employs a similar formular, yet bringing forth more drama and pathos before "This Empty Room" evokes musical memories of the large scale, yet still 4/4 SynthPop production approach once brought forward by genre masters like the Pet Shop Boys throughout their "Go West" era, although La Lune Noir's vocals are clearly catering towards a more Goth-leaning audience. With "Fake News" the band touches down on ProtoTrance in combination with ethereal female vocal backings and the very first samples of president Trump we've ever heard in an electronic music context, the rocking "Nudes" will be loved by Laibach-fans of late, "Wired To The Screen" indulges in deep technological nostalgia with samples of old telephones and data sets evoking a string-driven, retrofuturist 80s vibe for NuBeat- and ProtoTechno-dancefloors and "I Have A Dream" transfers the sample of legends into a thrilling FuturePop context for your wildest, yet blackest night out. Furthermore "Cowboys And Indians" serves a sweet, seductive bass motif for those loving deep electronic (Synth)Pop ballads, "Shots Are Fired" is on a slightly kitschy tip musically and the final cut "Neglected And Torn" presents an intro of playful electronic bleeps leading into a powerhouse of a closing tune that we defo want to listen to on a large scale live p.a. for a reason. Great stuff although we think there could've been more of a dynamic range and a punchier bass section brought forward within the mixing and mastering process of the whole album.