SILVER CITY

Description

Marc Almond personally supervised this commemorative double-CD reissue of his little-known 2016 electropop album. It remained obscure, as until now it had only had a limited vinyl release in Germany. Silver City, now an essential 20-track techno-pop opus, was written and produced by Marc with the cult German electronic music production duo Starcluster. It is his most synth-heavy work since Soft Cell (Electricity Club, 2016). It is a real pleasure to hear Marc Almond’s distinctive and expressive voice, accompanied by a vast palette of vintage analog synthesizers, in this retro-futuristic world of radiant authenticity. An album that offers a subtle and eloquent echo of his synth-pop beginnings with the cult duo Soft Cell. The tracks on Silver City draw aesthetically from classic electronic pop and were all composed using 80s analog synthesizer sounds. There is a pleasing Moroder/Vangelis atmosphere on Smoke And Mirrors, an overt homage to John Foxx in the angular soundscapes of Pixelated, and a vibrant tribute to three cult synthpop tracks: Marc and Starcluster’s inventive covers of Ronny’s To Have And Have Not, Valerie Dore’s classic Italo disco Get Closer, and a surprisingly creative electro version of Laura Branigan/RAF’s 80s international hit Self Control. Silver City also contains several previously unreleased remixes and two unreleased tracks by Marc Almond with Starcluster: Futuristic Weimar Berlin and Dancing Through The Fire. This 2LP edition is presented in a wide-spined sleeve adorned with a futuristic cityscape illustration by Kraftwerk collaborator Emil Schult, and includes two printed inner sleeves with two previously unreleased photographs of Marc.