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Natural, as it turns out, is one of the best ones I got. It's one of the ones that I really am glad I got, not one that I'm trying to convince myself I'm glad I got. The first song, "Things we do" is a nice dancey song with very retro sounds to it, and a touch of melancholy. Not bad at all, although the next song "Paradise" is probably the best song on the CD. It too is kinda retro, but not so obviously. Also very danceable, and also a little bit dark, yet nowhere near Depeche Mode dark. The song actually has pretty subtle synthwork on it, which grows gradually in intensity throughout the song. In fact, it's surprisingly good, synthwork, and I think this song is one of the ones that really convinced me that the new synthpop movement has a lot of talent and that it's more than a rehash of older 80s stuff by bands with much less talent than their bigger, older inspirations (listen to some of the bands on www.mp3.com that claim 80s new wave greats as their inspiration, and you'll see what I mean a lot of the time.) Novelty didn't fall into the trap of making all dancey songs, like the first Red Flag cd, for instance. In fact, the next song "Coming Over" is one of the good mid-tempo songs that's very pretty, relaxing, yet motivating and moving at the same time. It really reminds me a lot of some of a-ha's early stuff, although it doesn't sound too overtly like that band -- it just has a very similar feel. "Son of Mankind" is a dreamy yet punchy dance song, a little bit darker than anything that's come up so far. Again, it has very subtle and effective synthwork, and as always, Peter Segerdahl's vocals are perfectly suited to the theme. The band slows it down again for the very ambient and New Age-influenced "Elevenpointforty." This one is slow, instrumental and gorgeous. The CD picks up with the dark, New Romantic-like "Natural" a song that you can probably dance to, although it's a little bit slower than "Paradise", for instance. Unfortunately, this song is way too short, since it's one of the better ones, with really nice synthwork and a nice dark theme. "Trapped in Reality" is another very retro-sounding piece, although the sophistication of the more modern equipment is pretty apparent as well. Not quite so dark, yet hardly Erasure-like chipper, either. I also really like the next song -- I think it's one of the best, "Camera Lights." It's not fast, at least not the whole time, and you can't really dance to it in the traditional sense. I really like the dark, moodiness though, and once again, Novelty's trademark synthwork with subtle touches and sweeping main lines. The next song is "Brightness Empire" in which the boys take us for a retro-sounding ride again, although the modern synths make for a much fuller and richer sound than would have been possible. Despite the title, this one is also pretty dark and has a solid danceable beat. "RedNBlue" is very retro again, and danceable as well. It juxtaposes a mostly dark sound with occasional major riffs and parts, like many of the other songs here. It's probably one of the best on the CD for most of the same reasons. The long "There has been days," despite the grammar error in the title is another of the better songs here, with a slower tempo, a nice harmonica sound giving it a quaint, homey feel that makes you feel just comfortable enough to relax for the rest of this ethereal, dreamy song. Finally, the CD ends with "paraclub (140 bpm)." I don't know if there's any significance to the lack of capitalization, or if the beats per minute is really supposed to be part of the title or not, though. As you'd expect, this song is quite a bit faster than the original, and extremely dance oriented. Sadly, most of the vocals have been removed, making this more of a dub than a remix. Overall, I think Natural is one of the best releases Synthphony Records has right now. Like many other groups on that label, it's pretty retro sounding in song structures and synthlines, but Novelty uses surprisingly subtle synthriffs in various parts to showcase the fact that they are using much more modern equipment, and have a good handle on what makes a really good synthpop sound. Peter's vocals are perfect for the songs -- light, dreamy at times, yet perfectly crafted to produce the moods the songs are trying to capture. I'm hoping this band is around for a good deal longer putting out more CDs as good as this one.
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