I listened to Chiasm for the first time thanks to Jean-Marc Lederman who included her among the singers of his Letters to Gods (And Fallen Angels), one of the best albums of last year, according to El Garaje. On her own, she has been releasing material since 1998, the last album, entitled Reset, published in 2019. Instead, John Fryer is an habitual of El Garaje and we have interviewed him twice and written about his album with Fakeba and his own project Black Needle Noise. Together they had already worked on Chiams’ previous EP, 2020s Away and before John also remixed one of her songs. So, the album looks promising, especially knowing how much John Fryer loves working with female voices, and also the voice of Emileigh Rohn has really raised our interest.
Eleven extremely catchy tracks are contained in this Missed The Noise, with a sound closer to 90 than 80s. This is an album of great songs and a fantastic production that manages to emphasise Emileigh Rohn’s beautiful voice. John and Chiasm have delivered an album full of great melodies, multiple hooks and with no filler.
“Noise” is a great opener: a really catchy synthpop tune that you will keep humming after listening to it for the first time. Not less captivating is “Away,” a track harder and more sensual at the same time that has been released as first single. Some years ago, this song would have been a hit. Also, in a way, this album makes me think on Jean-Marc Lederman’s melodic ability. “Frantic” has a very potent beginning and is a song full of darkness with an interesting production by John Fryer. Without any doubt, this album can be enjoyed by young listeners, fans of all these new darkwave/dark pop bands like Grimes and also by fans of more classic synthpop or Goth music. “Are you okay” is a slow, dreamy and passionate song. “Intertwined” is another of the great moments of the album with a good melody and a powerful sound. In “Yours,” Emileigh whispers to us in a less immediate track but as fascinating as the rest. In “Missed,” the contrast between the warm of the voice and the industrial background constructed by Fryer really stands out. “Knocking” is a powerful dark track whose melody reminds me of And One. And the last track, “Gone” makes us go back in time to the days of A Mortal Coil, in a beautiful ethereal track that will make us levitate. Chiasm has found in John Fryer a perfect collaborator for her songs. A marriage made in heaven (or Las Vegas).
