VARIOUS ARTISTS

Deep is a female oriented electro/wave compilation by Dirk Ivens. The participating bands all present previously unreleased tracks. Belgian band Unidentified Man sets the tone with its melancholic 80s inspired wave. People who are fond of retro synths can purchase this album blindly. They’ll find established names such as Simi Nah, Sixth June (Serbia) and Keluar and other names that are waiting to be discovered. Although there is plenty of minimal wave on this compilation, Deep is varied enough to keep you interested with some instrumentals and with some dreamful tracks as well. Schonwald (Italy) stands out with a more gothic orientated track. Alessandra Gismondi impresses with her angelic voice.

Dirk Ivens, the master himself, contributed to this album as well, as he teamed up with Nora Below in the S/HE project. The French duo Minuit Machine’s track is truly a gem. I’m in love with Amandine Stioui’s melancholic voice. Popsimonova (Croatia) is another highlight with Lana Jastrevski’s wonderful accent. Other noteworthy tracks are the enchanting Dark Poem (Belgium), Vólkova (Argentina) and Yusyus (Serbia). They all sound promising. Worth checking out, like the rest of this compilation.

Benny CALUWE
05/07/2015