Artist: Noir
Album: Noir
Label: Noir Music
Release date: 10/03/15
Five years of work has accumulated into Noir's freshly released twelve-track self-titled studio album. Released on his own label, much of the music transcends your average tech house album, littered with the 70s electro influence of the original precursors of electronic music, Kraftwerk. The album asserts a distinct theatrical air that speaks volumes of Noir's musical capabilities and willingness to move against the grain. This is especially prominent in In a Vacuum and Real.
It's taken me almost a month to get to grips with the record, having had to come back and listen to it in its entirety, on various occasions. Some tracks, including Found Out, and the album's inaugural single Black featuring Caitlin, have weaved themselves into the playlist of my day to day life. Black is extremely reminiscent of Maceo Plex, particularly in the doom-filled intro that weaves itself into an extremely promising track with wistful and ghostly vocals.
Noir keeps rolling out shadowy and beautifully industrial techno beats, steadily advancing to the forefront of the blossoming tech house genre. Noir's Around, featuring Hayze, wholly supports this, having proved itself as a go to track during those late night underground club nights across the Globe. I can pinpoint a gamut of clubs across Spain, Ibiza and the UK at which that I have grooved to this track.
The album displays depth of musical knowledge and innovation; with layers upon layers of eclectic beats and vocals and drama, Noir has touched upon a spectrum of genres, intermingling them under an umbrella of diverse and unusual techno. You have to pay homage to his attempt to be unique; there's a consistent certainty to each track that you instantly recognise as his own work.
Angel, again featuring Hayze, throws me back to August of 2014, the constant beat throbbing out of the overbearing speakers of legendary house club Ohju in Andalucia's Caños de Meca. Let it Go imposes an almost intergalactic feeling into the listener. There is no doubt that the vocals on the album are the driving force of many of the songs.
In essence, what started off as an album I struggled to listen to all the way through, has ultimately left a big impression on me, including the yearning to branch out into relatively unknown sub genres of techno.
WORDS | Nicole Macedo
Tracklist:
01. Black feat. Caitlin
02. Around feat. Hayze
03. Let It Go feat. Caitlin
04. Real feat. Symbol
05. Found Out feat. Richard Davis
06. Time feat. HRRSN
07. Explode feat. Chris James
08. In A Vacuum feat. Richard Davis
09. My Fault feat. HRRSN
10. Angel feat. Hayze
11. Glass feat. Symbol
12. Out Of Control feat. Cari Golden
