Keep Shelly In Athens / Campus Martius

Planet Mu

Hailing from Greece’s capital, Keep Shelly in Athens has been the toast of the blog world for a while now, and their first EP for Planet Mu fits nicely on the roster of a label whose in 2011 discography includes the likes of Tropics, Vezelay and Heterotic. With several releases under their belt, the duo first came to Planet Mu’s attention with their remix of “Cub,” an awesome re-imagining of a track from Solar Bears’ debut album. It’s is a monumental slice of cold but blissful synth pop, with stadium-sized reverbs and punched-in repetitive vocals over rumbling guitars and punchy drums. “The Chains” has all the off-key atmosphere of an Italian horror film soundtrack, with vocalist Sarah P intoning a melody that could’ve come from Violator-era Depeche Mode. The song breaks down toward the end into an intense finale. Title track “Campus Martius” is underpinned by a giant, humming bassline. Electronic drums scratch away like insects flying at windows as a gentle piano line ripples over the top, painting an airily pleasurable feeling while vocal samples drop a melody at altered pitches—a scene of tentative bliss. Finally, “Struggle With Yourself” pits raw singing over a weird, acidic bassline that would be at home on a Coil record along with loose guitar strums, before the track breaks into light spoken word and angelic vocals.

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