LowCityRain – LowCityRain (2013)

Spawning from the ingenious mind of Markus Siegenhort (Lantlôs), today we have the very unique and retro sounding LowCityRain and their equally named debut full-length release. Featuring over eight tracks of melancholic Post-Punk/New Wave/Electro music, this is one album that you can expect to hear in a gloomy lounge on a cold and rainy night. We are quite thankful that Markus didn’t decide to switch Lantlôs direction to release this music, and he instead made this 80’s sounding project that is quite emotional and catchy.

Opening with the superb “You Are Everyone, You Are Everywhere”, we immediately get a very gloomy vibe thanks to its dramatic atmosphere. Fans of Amesoeurs will rejoice with this track (and release), thanks to the excellent vocals and carefully crafted retro vibe. The electro elements are quite intoxicating on tracks like “Grey Views”, nicely contrasting the somber vocals. The guitar work is quite solid, creating a very 80’s vibe of bands like The Cure.

It is quite hard to mention favorite tracks when everything is all so good, like the uber catchy “I Don’t Know My Self”, “Numb”, and “Phantom”. For anybody looking for Metal music here, we have to say that while some of the guitars are heavy, most tracks have a very mellow vibe with “Nightshift” probably being the most ‘hectic’ for them all. The atmospheric component of this album is excellent, and we can’t get enough of the combination of minimalistic percussions and the keyboards that comprise it, like on the majestic “Vulnerable Now”.

As the album comes to a close with “Your Eyes and the Sea”, we are left with a very gloomy vibe and an urge to listen to this release over and over. Markus has done a great job in capturing a timeless sound and giving it his own personal spin in LowCityRain. There are countless brilliant atmospheric moments that are just too many to mention. If you are a huge fan of Post-Punk bands that embraced the New Wave and Electro movements, you should definitely not miss this one.

Label: Prophecy Productions

Release: September 27th, 2013 (Europe) / October 7th, 2013 (North America)

Genre: Post-Punk / New Wave / Electro

Country: Germany