The Music of Kevin Lux is really interesting to listen to and the album "Autonomatik" is full of electronic surprises. Lush pads, sequencer patterns and melodic synths dominate the album.
The opening track "Prelude To Autonomy" has an air of Jean Michel Jarre about it, wonderful pads and strings give this track a very atmospheric sound. Track 2 "Aurora" has all the elements Kevin likes to use in his songs, rhythm, vocoded vocals and sequenced bass elements, quite a minimal track but with commercial appeal with it's gentle melodic parts and occasional pads.
"Trust The Machine" has a much harder edge and reminded me of some of the tracks on Metroland's "Triadic Ballet" album. Dark and sinister is probably a good description, interesting how the song develops from it's opening dark sound into a more pop direction, great use of melody again, synth leads reminded me of Gary Numan.
"Business" is a great track with it's "Speak & Spell" speech, musically, think very early Kraftwerk (Ralf & Florian, Kraftwerk 1 & Kraftwerk 2 albums), the songs has a simple but very effective rhythmic section. Following that we have "Robit", very Kraftwerk and comparisons will definitely be made to their track "The Robots", the sequencer parts are fantastic and the whole song is held together with clever use of voice samples that tell the story of a robot. A well constructed track.
"Talking In My Sleep" is warm and inviting, I just love the pads and string sounds Kevin has used on this album and they are used to great effect here, a much more upbeat track with superbly constructed sequencer segments, expecially the bass sequencer, a lot to admire in this busy track, that said, there is plenty of room for all the elements of the song to breathe, definitely one of my favourite tracks on the album. Listen out for that well known Numan pad lead sound, superbly replicated here.
"Tesla" has more of a soundtrack feel about it and the structure of the song instantly reminded me of the work of Jonteknik. Great rhythm and synth sounds, it is upbeat and quite haunting especially with the pads/strings used, another big favourite off the album. It's simplicity works perfectly.
"Machine Beat" has plenty of Kraftwerk elements, the "Zap" sound, percussive elements and noises and a strong lead synth, some neat drum effects used as well, a mixture of treated vocals and vocoded vocals add to the overall dimension of the track. Kevin has a real knack of creating effective simple melodic parts using the perfect synth sound. Next we have the title track "Auronomatik" which starts off with morse code and radio noise before we are treated, once again, to a beautiful synth lead sound that instantly reminded me of the intro to Gary Numan's "Love Needs No Disguise". This song has a strong rhythm section as you would expect, it's upbeat and vocally there is a lot going on, treated vocals, robotic voices, I like the pace of this track and the excellent use of melodies. The song develops really well and is again a big favourite of mine off the album, indeed my favourite track on the album.
"Totality" is a sequencer driven track, which really appeals to me, it's another area Kevin excels in, I found the pulsing bass sound a bit of a distraction, but that is a minor gripe. It's another song that builds effectively, the sequencers are punctured with a string pad every now and again which adds to the appeal of the track, strong vocal elements overlay the music and work well.
Jean Michel Jarre is a big unfluence on the track "Portal", especially the string and pad intro set against vocoded vocals, again the lead synth melody is fantastic, beautiful and warm, almost "Cinematic". It's definitely a more melancholic song, the album certainly has varying moods, which is why it is such a fascinating album to listen too. "Voice Of Energy" makes fine use of voice samples to complement the structure of the track, this is less melodic that the other tracks as the focus is more on rhythm and sequenced bass parts and overlaid sequencer sections.
"Hustle Bustle" has hauntingly treated vocals and some of the best sequencer parts I have ever heard in a track, it is upbeat and catchy, mainly due to the sequencers, and of course excellent use of a string synth, another track I really like.
The album closes with "Autonomy Outro", which has a huge Jean Michel Jarre influence, as it is dominated by synth pads and lead sounds, I love the sound of the drums on this song, superb use of effects. The chord parts and jangling bell synth (think "Neon Lights") are fantastic. A wonderful ending to the album.
He has spent an incredible 30 years making music drawing on the influences of Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre, OMD, Gary Numan and Orbital to name a few, I think this album undoubtably uses more of a Jarre and Kraftwerk influence, but he does have a unique sound of his own, his music draws you in, mainly due to it's atmospheric sound. It's no surprise that he has now joined the Plonk Music Label roster, his music is a perfect fit for that label.
It is amazing to learn that Kevin recorded the album between July and August 2017, just 2 months, he was undoubtably on a creative wave. This is a well constructed and well produced album. Prior to writing this review I listened with headphones and it blew me away, the depth of sound and rich layers in the songs are amazing.
There is so much to admire with this album and it certainly takes the listener on an audio journey, a fantastic album 9/10
"Autonomatik" is available from Bandcamp:
https://kevinlux.bandcamp.com/album/autonomatik
Visit Kevin's Official Homepage:
http://kevinlux.com/music/
Visit Kevin's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Kevin-Lux-Music-Official-101959323318/
