The bottle is made of glass but it does not smash when it hits the floor. Maybe the floor is covered in carpet or the glass is tougher than it looks? Don’t worry. I’ve not gone existential or philosophical. I’ve just gone brooding synth pop with Chicago duo Love And Radiation.
It’s a retro sound that this duo - Adele Nicholas and Lakshmi Ramgopal – peddle. A retro sound that is nonetheless endearing and infused with, of all things, innocence. There’s no widescreen posturing here. This is old style noir borne of a time and place that neither of its creators could have experienced. Slight vocals, seemingly distanced from full on emotion, intertwine on a regular basis. You might call it a collision but you might also call it charming.
With the mascara on max – and with often ignored strict orders to be home before the witching hour – Love and Radiation cast a spell whose ingredients include both simple dance pop and ethereal folk influences and as “Winter” cascades a soul auction over its robotic sonic waterfall, it could indeed be the past times that we all claim to prefer. As for “Ganymede”, I was drawn to wonder why something so simple seemed so deep, dark and mysterious.
The lights might be red and dawn might be soon to come but Love and Radiation aren’t coming back to your place. The basement behind the iron door is their home and daylight is their enemy.
Someday, however, we shall all be free.