Positronic start off 2025 with a brand new album called "Defender", that is something quite different, it's a collection of spiritual songs, re-worked as synthpop tracks, certainly an interesting concept.
"praise" opens the album and is a very uplifting track and works really well with it's synthpop backdrop and fullsome vocals, a great opener. Following that we have the track "Glorious Day", which has been released as a single, as with Michael's previous work he is a massive fan of Erasure and this track showcases that fact, it builds nicely and the chorus is really infectious, especially the melodic sequencer hook, another excellent track.
"Your Love Awakens Me", brilliant intro, Michael seems to have set very high standards on his recent work, and this again shows his development in his music making and his vocals, there is a confidence in him which is driving his recorded work. On this track fabulous synth work. I have to confess that most of the songs featured on this album I don't know and I think that is a good thing because it gives you the chance to see beyond the religious overtones and judge the songs for what they are, "This Beating Heart" is another positive and joyous track, the synth's are on fine form and definitely a strong vocal, it is bordering on synthpop dance, which makes for a good solid track.
"This Is Amazing Grace" has a delightful sequencer that drives the track, which is overlayed with more sequencers and synths, a perfect rhythm section and a solid vocal, sounds more Erasure than Erasure themselves, I like the positive vibes of this album so far. "King Of My Heart" sees the tempo brought to ballad level and is a welcome change at this point in the album, wonderful pad sounds and a strong rhythm section and Michael's vocals are very strong and compliment the music. "Exhalted" sees the bpm level rise, nice sequencers and a good solid drum section, a beautiful song.
"Firm Foundation", has a beautiful music backdrop, vocals delivered with passion, all in all an enjoyable track. Next is a track called "Wide Awake", which is a wonderful slice of synthpop, great synth stabs with a dance club edge, some nice sequencers in there too. "Reckless Love" is another warm sounding ballad, I like the analogue Drum Machine on this track :) Some nice touches with the sound of the synths, a good track.
There is a return to the dancefloor with "Better Than Life", which has a lovely bass synth sound. nice pads, powerful chorus with an excellent vocal, one of my favourite tracks on the album, excellent! "Rest On Us" is a good uplifting song, nice touches with the drums on this one, again Michael gives a powerful vocal performance, an area he has clearly worked hard on.
"Relationship" has gorgous pad sounds which drive the emotion of the track, really like the synth sounds on this one, superb sequencer patterns, beautifully mixed that make for a really solid song, another standout track for me. "Hosanna", now I am familiar with this song :) I really like the intro, nice throbbing bass-line, some great chord sounds and the synth parts are fabulous, another strong track. Next we have "On And On" which definitely has a dance vibe to it, especially with the 4 to the floor kick drum pattern, lots going on with the sequencers, a lot of layers to the overall sound, which again gives the track a warm and uplifting feeling, the middle eight section is pure beauty.
To close the album we have the serine "Lord I Need You", a mid paced track with some excellent sequencer parts, which are the main backdrop of the song, I really like the chorus, the mix of Michaels vocals and the pad sounds are just perfect.
Clearly Michael is a big Erasure fan and he has done a really excellent job to give these spiritual songs a synthpop makeover, a brave concept to take on but you have to give credit where credit is due. I said when I reviewed that last Positronic album that Michael has developed his sound palette and that there was a confidence in his vocal perfomances and he has continued that progression on this album.
A very enjoyable listen 8/10
The album will be available from the Positronic Bandcamp page and digital download retailers, here is the link for the Bandcamp page:
https://iampositronic.bandcamp.com/
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