Blume- Western Rust

Artist:Blume

Album: Western Rust

Release date: Available now

Label: WTII records

Genre: Synthpop, futurepop, EBM

Hot off the heels of 2013’s Autumn Ruins, Italian Futurepop trio Blume bring us a little teaser of what may be to come. This release features the original and five re-workings of the track Western Rust.

In its rawest form, Western Rust draws you in with a trancey, pulsing bass, solid ebm beats and moody synthpop/darkwave vocals straight from the Depeche Mode heyday, which gradually synthesise throughout the track with euphoric edm rises in a surprisingly intuitive blend.

The first reinterpretation comes from Technoir, who up the power of the chunky drums, and develop a steady harsh vibe which is a little more in-your-face than the original, but at the cost of its smooth finesse.

Blanks reimagining is a lot twitchier. It starts off with cacophonous static noise which subtly disintegrates into mellow yet morosely melodic musings in a much more despairing soundscape.

Interface’s version is, as one might expect, considerably more rushed than the last two - the closed-eyes, arms-waving euphoria of the original is given a twisted, maniacal energy and even more brutally uncompromising bass intertwines with trippy melodic tangents.

The next version comes from Wade Alin and is a much darker journey. Levels of distortion are applied and time signatures are cut up and stuttered to create a much more macabre experience.

The final remix comes from I;Scintilla and it is probably the most different from the others, a stripped back guitar sound creates a calmer and more introspective environment, reminiscent of Metallica’s sombre moments. Its brooding, solemn vibe is the perfect way to wind down the album.

It is testament to both the versatility and presence of Blume and the imagination of the contributing artists, that I was transfixed throughout, even though I was listening to the same vocal refrain repeated six times! 

Listen to "Western Rust"