People Theatre - Chapter 2 (Staring At Sun) Reviewed

The man behind People Theatre is French musician, Peter Rainman, who is well respected in the independent electronic community for his remix work for other artists, especially with Australian synthpop band, Parralox, Peter has also provided remixes for the likes of, Rename, !Distain, Jonteknik, Vision Talk, Zynic, Daybehavior, Vanguard, Solitary Experiments, Uncreated, Psy'Aviah and countless others.

The "Chapter II - Staring At Sun" EP is a follow up to the "Chapter I - Dare At Dawn" EP which was released in 2015.

The new EP features 8 tracks with various guest vocalists.

The opening track is a delightful instrumental called  "Theme For A Star", which has some Jean Michel Jarre overtones and I think I detected the Roland CR78 Drum Machine :) I like the way the track builds and it features some wonderful pad and choir sounds, which give it a Science Fiction soundtrack touch. "Forever" features Henrik Iversen, I like the use of piano, Peter has, on many of his remixes used piano melodies as a focal point and he makes good use of it again on this track, a more uplifting track and I do like the vocals, perfect for the synth backdrop. Track 3 "Do You Remember" sees Peter collaborate with Shelter and Oots, a well constructed synth dominated dance track, reminded me of some of Erasures tracks on "The Violet Flame" album. Superb vocals again on this one, great use of synth hooks, excellent track.

"Obsession" featuring Henrik Iversen has a superb throbbing bass-line and beautiful pads and trademark People Theatre piano, all fused together to produce a fabulous track, I like the atmospheric nature of this song. "Welcome To Goodbye" is next which features Tess Fries. Good use of rhythm sounds on the intro and I do like the pad sounds, I like how it morphs into a solid dance number, with sequenced lead synths, this song has a darker sound, which I really like. "Ultimate Meeting" features K-bereit and has a more sinister industrial sound, which is a little outside my comfort zone when it comes to synth based music, it definitely has a harder edge, both musically and vocally.

"Ego Trip" is a more medium paced number featuring S Cochran & K Eller on vocals and the boy/girl vocal works a treat, this song is more reflective and again features a beautiful piano melody against some superb string chords, I love this track and highlights just how good a musician Peter Rainman is. Probably my favourite track on the album, if you remember People Theatre's remix of the Parralox track "Isn't It Strange" you will get the idea how this track sounds.

The album closes with the piano driven "Theme For A Comet", almost classical in it's delivery and is quite haunting, simplistic in that it is basically piano, strings/Pads and vocals, a fantastic way to close the album.

This album demonstrates, and shows, that as well as providing consistantly excellent remixes for other artists, Peter is a skilled musician, who knows how to produce and arrange well constructed songs, I like the idea of using different vocalists on this album too, that works perfectly.

People Theatre fans are in for a real treat with this collection of songs 9/10

You can buy the album via Bandcamp as a CD or Digital Download:

https://gomxiiiprod.bandcamp.com/album/chapter-2-staring-at-sun

Visit the People Theatre Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/peopletheatreofficial