Swedish trio Revl9n (pronounced Revlon 9) have embarked on a strange and twisted journey of somewhat epic proportions with the release of their eponymous titled album.
It’s not one for the faint of heart and from the start is an all out assault on the ear drums, mixing industrial electronica, disco pop and malevolent dance into one 37 minute chunk of musical madness.
Its hard to define what makes Revl9n tick and there are two schools of thought here. The first being that the trio are either representative and ahead of their time; attempts at producing a sexy and mysterious noise could potentially incite orgasmic dance floor delectations (all be it under the influence of illegal substances) up and down the country (or Sweden at least) and could be viewed as a stroke of untapped raw genius.
The second and more probable school of thought is that these crazy kids are simply trying too hard to achieve a far too cool for art school image; and although certainly stylish, unique and distinctive on many levels, prolonged exposure could at best leave you feeling violated and at worst make your ears bleed for days afterwards. Theirs is a messy and often directionless sound that aims for sultry Scandinavian sex but instead has to settle for self gratification of the British reader’s wives variety.
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Harsh, jarring vocals, stabbing synths and a generally banausic sound leaves you feeling cheated and rather quickly bored. Unfortunately that is virtually the sum total of the album.
There are some plus points however. ‘Walking Machine’ and ‘Someone Like You’ display traces of proficient intelligent pop through their catchy hooks and programmed drum beats but that's about it. Mainstream it certainly is not which isn't a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination but the tempo and structure of the entire album and throughout individual songs mutates too frequently, that instead of keeping the listener intrigued, excited and interested, becomes off-putting and aggravating.
Revl9n have attempted to create a futuristic hybrid of a sound that is brave in parts but ultimately too far removed from any of its varied elements to work. A nice idea but Revl9n’s music is as its name suggests, superficial, cosmetic and not enough to cover up its many defects
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