Synesthetica – Radiation City (reviewed by Thomas Haynes)

It’s early on a Wednesday morning in February. I need to drive to Southampton, but the heavy rain last night has frozen solid on the windscreen, so I have to scrape the damn stuff off in a strange bubbly fashion. I get in the car and look for an album to listen to and I am drawn to the bright colours on Radiation City’s new album: Synesthetica. The mix of oranges and blues makes me think this could be a fun listen and I am not disappointed.

 

For those not in the know, Synesthesia is a condition when you are able to detect an additional flow of sensory information, so you might see a colour when looking at a certain number. This album plays this concept to its strength with great song titles that conjure all sorts of strange thought patterns.

 

The opener ‘Oil Show’ has a nice slick sound (see what I did there), while the solid, yet smooth ‘Butter’ has a nice 60s vibe. This is the first album by Radiation City that I’ve listened to and it reminds me of Goldfrapp in places (far from a bad thing) the alternating female and male vocals adds a nice bit of dynamism into proceedings. My favourite track, hands down, is ‘Futures’ it has hit written all over it.

 

There was plenty of turbulence within the Portland based band when they came to record this 3^rd album and the band almost split up in the process, but the final product that came out of those difficult days is a rewarding listen.

 

Now all I need to do is work out how to pronounce Synesthetica.