Avant! Italy Vinyl & CDs

Review: Two years on from the release of his brilliant third album "Parallels", dark-wave and synth-wave explorer Hord returns to Avant with an equally impressive sequel. Rich in "Bladerunner"-era Vangelis synth sounds, clandestine grooves, moody chords, distant vocals and druggy arpeggio lines, the album is an altogether more atmospheric, tuneful and ethereal affair than some of the producer's previous outings. The overall mood is bittersweet and melancholic, but that's no bad thing. To our ears, it's the most impressively emotive Hord release to date, and that's reason enough for further exploration.

Review: Andrea P. Latorre and Sergi Algez made an instant splash with their strain of punchy electroclash and minimal wave when they debuted with their self-titled album in 2018. EPs have followed, but finally the duo laid down their hotly anticipated follow-up in studios between Barcelona and Valencia between 2020 and 2021. As an instinctively exploratory group, they've not simply repeated the tricks from their first record, and the evolution can be felt in the fierce, pop-tinted club monster 'Denial' as much as the arch 90s stylings of 'Hectic', stepping out of bedroom introspection into a fabulous, unapologetic beast with huge crossover potential.