Reclaim Vienna - Infamous
Cheshire electronic indie synth pop six piece Reclaim Vienna are Jonathan Steen (vocals), Danny Smith (guitar), Ryan Harlow (guitar), Ryan Smith (drums), Harry Woodrow (keys/electronics) and Paul Hill (bass).
The past couple of months has been a productive period for Reclaim Vienna, inspired by recent cummings and goings and restricted in how they can work, the Retro Futurists have still managed to produce two outstanding singles in quick succession, each track taking them to different extremes of their style, outside their usual territory.
Their unscheduled and unexpected lockdown pop single Modern Times is now followed up with the far darker Infamous which is released today, Friday 10 July.
On asked about the track vocalist Jonathan Steen said:
Infamous takes us in a different direction sonically. It’s what I’d call dark wave. It’s bold and pushes the boundaries of our sound. To me the song captures wider musical influences in the band, with Infamous I hear Gary Numan and Joy Division.
Lyricist Danny Smith on the new single commented:
Infamous is about people trying to excuse any wrongdoing. Its about people's inability to apologise. Not to sound like Elton John and for ‘sorry to be the hardest word’, but people don't do it, politicians don't do it. Blind faith and tribalism is ever present in today's society. People should say sorry more, but they don't. They stick to their guns even though they know it’s wrong.
Infamous sees a change in sound for Reclaim Vienna, it moves away from feel good electro pop and takes us down a darker alley.
It’s a much darker electro beat, the volume is turned up a notch and we have guitars that screech and grab hold of your vital organs as it produces a sumptuous melody, there are elements of Depeche Mode in here, combined with the gothic rhythms of The Cure, fuck, it really is a banger.
I love the opening lines as Steen sings “stop wait a minute I, I only thought we were checking the time, halt for a second I, I only thought we were breaking the silence”.
Once again Reclaim Vienna deliver that killer chorus “I fall you follow, I fall you follow, let’s be the infamous in life, infamous”, that will be ringing in your ears long after the track has finished.
Infamous is a bold step away from the tried and tested, but shows bravery and originality as they broaden their horizons in creativity, Reclaim Vienna take us back to 80’s electro pop nostalgia with their tunes, but they do this whilst showing great ingenuity in making it sound contemporary and fresh.
I said in a previous review that Reclaim Vienna were fast becoming one of my favourite bands and Infamous has just reiterated exactly why that is, it’s bold, it’s brash, it’s fresh, it’s danceable but above all it’s just oozing class.
Give Infamous a stream now:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1dC1eHtkj8HZC6oznoc4sU?si=--lZGtjSSD-mdiHXTRxEMA
Infamous is also getting a physical release on CD, which will include their recent digital single Modern Times as well as reworkings of the tracks Paris and Cool With It. The link to purchase is below:
https://42srecords.tmstor.es/cart/product.php?id=65401
Reclaim Vienna can be followed on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify:
https://www.facebook.com/ReclaimVienna/
https://instagram.com/reclaimvienna?igshid=hv6hbe9ks43i
https://open.spotify.com/artist/32MUVnYomXHEM2lqlWhSLJ?si=USQE99gcR5-3I1JfPoorIg
