Listening to Pornographic Shadows, the debut of Bella Eterna, is like seeing a friend you haven’t seen for a long time or returning to one of your favourite cities after a long absence. The union of Belgian singer Gerd Van Geel and Spanish producer JG Outsider has resulted in an album with a timeless sound, a declaration of love to a style of making music, or better said to a feeling. Gerd, the recognisable voice of The Arch has been creating some of the scene’s anthems since the mid-eighties, such as ‘Babsi Ist Tot’ and the popular ‘Ribdancer’ while JG Outsider, after spending half his life composing tracks for the dancefloor, has returned to embrace the darkness that was his first love. Together they create this work of dark synth pop, quite varied and with a clear focus on the dancefloor, something natural coming from where the two artists come from. The album, released on French label Unknown Pleasures, includes seven original tracks, two of them in different versions and a new remix of ‘Ribdancer’ by JG Outsider recorded previously for a tribute released by Banshees Records .
‘Emperor’, the first track, has a classic vibe, like it has crossed oceans of time to be in the record, an elegant and majestic composition in which Gerd proves what a great singer he is. The Silence Mix manages to breathe a different life into it, this time more dancefloor-oriented. ‘Complex’ is a more danceable track, with an interesting production by JG Outsider and a very good chorus. ‘The Mirror of The Soul’ is a track that wins you over right away, it follows the danceable vibe of the previous one and Gerd is really in a state of grace in his performance. Personally, it’s my favourite track on the album. ‘Withered Flowers’ sounds classic too, with a beginning that reminds us of Midge Ure’s Ultravox and features a dramatic performance by Gerd. The production sounds classic but with just enough modern touches. The track appears again as ‘Withered Flowers Night Seeds’ in a danceable version that proves that JG Outsider can turn anything into dancefloor material. ‘Pornographic Shadows’, the title track, is the dark and haunting moment of this quite varied album. The producer creates ghostly, dramatic music that serves as the perfect background for Gerd’s voice.
The album continues with ‘The Realm of the Women’, an atmospheric track, in which Gerd shines again. Among the remixes we find ‘Inflatable’, an original piece in which JG proves to be a master in creating atmospheres with the minimum while Gerd recites a text.
The album ends with a remix that JG Outsider made of the legendary ‘Ribdancer’ for a tribute on the Banshees Records label. The track was a smash hit in Spanish clubs (not only Goth ones) and we assume that the Spanish producer played it a lot back in the day. The track is a glimpse into the past with a taste of the present that, I hope, is the beginning of a fruitful future.
