It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that sting in the tail. Three albums on, Italian electro rock band Helalyn Flowers put the needle firmly into the groove with “White Me In + Black Me Out”. But do they still sting?
The songs are heavily sequenced as you might well expect and the plethora of synth riffs establish this band’s retro credentials. However, while the past might be the new black, there is clear evidence of style here. Musically, the bleakness is positively relentless but, as a balance to that, Nøemi Aurøra’s voice is the sunlight, the moonlight and the night people’s ultraviolet light. She adds passion to the metronomic metal of “Tribes of the Future”. She adds playfulness to the hard rock of “Alkaline Twins”. She embraces the lessons of the past in the unashamedly retro “Shake”. She’s enough to make a man wish shoulder pads were back in fashion. She is the sting in the tail.
The contents of “White Me In + Black Me Out” are best consumed after midnight and, on the evidence of this album, Helalyn Flowers are more than enough reason for a man to wish for a conversion to vampirism. The inevitable dawn may not be far away for most of us but Helalyn Flowers are, and always will be, children of the night.