Well, what a great couple of weekends! Two bank holidays back to back and the sun is still shinning! It must be a record for Britain but it’s all very welcome.

I’m sure most of you have been partying and making the most of it, but now we have the nasty prospect of work tomorrow. It sucks doesn’t it? But not to worry, I have something for you to keep the mood going through to next weekend and it comes in the shape of Fenech-Soler.

Fenech-Soler by Fenech-Soler
Fenech-Soler by Fenech-Soler

Anyway, back to the music… for those that are interested, Fenech-Soler are a 4 piece from Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, England… and no, I’d never heard of the place before now. They take their name from one of the band members full surname – Daniel Fenech-Soler (he usually just goes by Daniel Soler) – which is Maltese.

If you recognise the lead singers voice, he sang on Groove Armada’s “Paper Romance” from the album “Black Light” (reviewed here), and they also remixed Marina and the Diamond’s “Hollywood” (reviewed here).

So there are a lot of sounds in here, whether they are deliberate or not. We wander from a tasting of Linkin Park in “Golden Sun”, and a few tracks later in “The Great Unknown”, I think there is a smattering of Delphic. That might put some of you off but give it a chance. Each track moves into one another very well and in the case of “Lies” (my favourite and probably their most famous single), you really get a great experience.

Although you probably could loosely call this dance music, there is a lot vocal work which I think helps to make this a really listenable album.

What’s really great about it is it suits the mood of the moment. It’s full of energy, it’s bright and it’s lively. It’s real sunshine party music… and if you can’t use it because you have to go to work, then you can listen to it and pretend you are there. The lyrics can be a bit dark sometimes but it’s the tunes that carry it.

It’s a big shame that they haven’t been more successful than they have – Their album only hit 84 in the UK. But there’s no reason for us not to all get behind them and enjoy the fruits of their labour.

I like this album a lot and it’s most definitely one that grows on you. It might not be an instant hit with you but persevere and you won’t regret it.

3 G’s

GGG

2 thoughts on “Maltese names bring British Electro sound : Fenech-Soler by Fenech-Soler

  1. A long time ago…some friends and I ran a club night called Alibi in Camden’s now gone but not forgotten Oh! Bar. We used to put on live Electro acts found via MySpace and guess which Kings Cliffe four-piece got in touch with us and played twice? That’s right, Depeche Mode. No I’m joking. It was Fenech-Soler, thoroughly nice lads and it’s great to see then getting somewhere in what must be a pretty tough industry.

  2. How very rock and roll! Another confirming nugget of your Mr Cool status. Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you. Been a bit rubbish lately. You’re white-listed now though so comment away!

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