Analogue, analogue, wherefore art thou analogue? You don’t need to be William Shakespeare to answer that one as French duo VvvV are hellbent on leading you down the retro path in search of the synthesis of truth with their album “The Wreck”.
This album is, fortunately, more than just another retro reflection though as VvvV are not limited by the three minute convention expected for commercial success and, instead, they wander off on a sonic journey through a sequenced wonderland full of oblique references to the left and right of the musical spectrum. Adding in enough reverb to add a touch of the surreal, the songs of VvvV strut with the kind of certainty that would suggest a lack of diversity in direction yet, outside of the rigidity enforced by the aforementioned sequencer, these songs nonetheless seem spiritually designed to ramble forever in a style somewhere between the religious chant and the (near) psychedelic.
So, with much in the way of introspection and restrained insistence, VvvV turn “The Wreck” into the kind of album that will lead you towards the safety of the sunrise before the machine can swallow you up.
Best song? The brooding “Unslaved”.
The verdict? Retro rollercoaster.