Music > Album Reviews

Acid Washed // House of Melancholy

31/07/13

Hold on to your harem pants and take tight hold of the ever-shrinking edges of your crop top. Acid Washed are releasing an album this month to add to the patchwork of excellent beat driven music coming out this season. With dance music in their blood, French acts always know the most direct route to the dancefloor and this is an immediate album, echoing the return of house music with some 90s techno house, 80s synth sounds and the welcome electro relevance of their chosen collaborators. Predominantly instrumental, there are some choice vocals to change the pace; Blaq Shampu’s R&B sound brings the album right up to date, and the new wave, droning sung melody over ‘Gasoline’ really puts the “melancholy” in ‘House of Melancholy’ to change the dynamic. The album shifts at this almost midway point for a more introspective biopic on Franco-phonics, a post 4am wind down until the rising dawn of ‘Nautilus’ and ‘House of Melancholy,’ the title track. For me, the undulating stereo switching of ‘Hello Universe’ is the neatest embodiment of the album, fusing the best in atmospheric Euro-electronica with the direct oratory and singing of Miss Kittin.

6/10 Tiny Dancer