"The intersection of rock and electronic music has been clusterfucked for years, and it takes extraordinary skills to stand out. Belgium's Soulwax have been in that nexus for decades. The group's creative core of David and Stephen Dewaele have gone from generating convincing facsimiles of grunge on their 1996 debut LP Leave the Story Untold to the leftfield-techno tracknology of 2018's Essential."
"For All Systems Are Lying (DEEWEE/Because Music), the Dewaeles said, "We wanted to capture the feeling of a band playing electronic instruments - live, loud and loose." Using modular synths, live drums, tapes machines, and processed vocals, Soulwax claim to have made "a rock album ... without any guitars." One quibble: All Systems only occasionally rocks. And that's okay. Perversely, Soulwax open with "Pills And People Are Gone," which sounds like an end-of-the-party lament that would make Radiohead weep."
Soulwax fuse rock and electronic traditions by aiming to sound like a band playing electronic instruments: live, loud and loose. The Dewaele brothers employ modular synths, live drums, tape machines and processed vocals to craft a guitarless record that pulls from techno, synth-pop and post-industrial tones. Tracks range from the lamenting opener "Pills And People Are Gone" to pulse-driven cuts like "Polaris" and sneering, social-media-skewering "The False Economy." Album highlight "Run Free" combines midtempo beats, rubbery bass synths, an acidic 303 solo and strong vocals to deliver an escapist, peril-tinged centerpiece.
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