There are bands that record four albums in 30 years and other artists that have an incredible facility to release new full albums in no time. It seems to be the case of Chemical Waves, Marco Cattani’s project (also member of Halo Effect) as now that we are finally finishing our review of his last album, we have learned that he has already a new record planned for June. Chemical Waves’ first album was The Garden of Forking Paths (title of a tale by Argentinian writer Borges) published in 2012, that was followed by a few singles until the project had a halt. Anyway Marco Cattani did not stop doing music as he used the moniker The Mark to release some albums in 2018.
For this new work, published by Unknown Pleasures Records, Marco has collaborated with different guest singers, one for each song (except two short instrumentals) adapting the track to the artists’ styles and creating an album really varied that includes darkwave, ethereal and even some minimal synth song. The cover is an homage to the late Vaughan Oliver, creator of the precious covers of the 4AD label that were the most perfect door to the beauty included in those records.
Blindfolded, we enter Even When We Fall Apart, and the fear of falling (and of falling apart) makes us breathe heavily. Our companion in “Denied” is Bedless Bones from Letonia, who welcomes us with a really catchy darkwave track. A drum reminiscent of Joy Division introduces “The Only Way,” where French Closed Mouth immerses us in a dark and dangerous environment. When we arrive at “The Sphinx,” we come across Hiv+, who is waiting for us with some Oscar Wilde’s poems, to take us in a trip to the eighties where we can fall in love for the first time with Goth music again. German cold wave duo Virgin Tears takes us too to another world in “The Graves of Our past” but this time, the trip is only spiritual: for a moment we believe that we have reached some inner peace. We are in such a peaceful state after the previous track that we fall sleep during a short interlude. Jason Sloan, as the personification of L’Avenir waits for us in “Hymn,” and proves that it’s possible to create a minimal hymn without losing the emotion. From Colombia, Antiflvx guides us through the frozen paths of “Void and Light.” Like the night follows the day, we arrive at “The Sparkles in your eyes” with Egoprisme and the light and the urge to dance take complete control of us. RjVj sings in “Desire’s Web,” and when me manage to realize, we are tangled and immobilised in the web that names the song, but it’s also possible that the album already captured us a few songs ago.
