Bloom 06
Crash Test 02

A few years ago, they were considered one of the many meteors of disposable music that relentlessly pervades the radio. The spontaneous and widespread skepticism towards this group by more cultured and demanding listeners was partially justified by the launch of singles greatly exposed to the never unpleasant risk of becoming hits in no time. A record strategy that often raises a wall of prejudice against the brand in question. The focal point of debate, which will make many frown, is the now former Eiffel 65, a band sometimes accused of composing soundtracks for amusement parks.

For a couple of years now, Gianfranco Randone and Maurizio Lobina, respectively singer and musician, have abandoned the old project to launch a new challenge under the name Bloom 06, which indeed means "blooming in 2006." So far, they have released two albums, united by their sequential titles but very different from each other. If in "Crash Test 01" they explored the undergrowth of New Wave and Indie Pop, with "Crash Test 02" they set the goal of reconciling Dance sounds, richly present in their background, with a renewed sound featuring electric bass and guitars of all kinds harmoniously integrating between the woods of samples and synthesizers. Two chapters of the same book, characterized by an explosive mix in which the influences of U2, New Order, Depeche Mode, Daft Punk, and more generally the '80s and '90s converge in varying doses. With the latest episode of the saga, which can be attributed to the realm of so-called Intelligent Dance Music, i.e., a work to dance to but also capable of making you reflect, the duo confirms an artistic maturation that allows, in every context, to design for each song the most suitable musical attire. In this setting, the chameleonic voice of the vocalist stands out, which, in certain episodes, brings back the magnetic darkness of Dave Gahan. The tracklist also sees the return of the band's historical linguistic dualism, with 7 pieces in English and 3 in Italian. Thus, a heterogeneous work is outlined in which one of the few certainties seems to be the 4/4 rhythm, perhaps used excessively. The themes addressed in the lyrics, despite the straightforward language, avoid banality, lending themselves to the listener's volatile interpretations and highlighting a dark and negative mood, broken by faint glimmers of optimism.

From the echo of Daft Punk and the glacial sound intertwinings of the multifaceted "Between The Lines" to the strong electric-electronic contrast of "Welcome To The Zoo", which features original overlaps and shifts between piano, bass à la The Cure, seductive guitars, '90s Dance kick drum, and vocal manipulations. From the universal sentiment of "Anche Solo Per Un Attimo", which, however, suffers from monotony in arrangement, to the contradictions and moral involution of modern society in "Reaching For The Stars", with its powerful and substantial sound of international breadth. From the references to the Depeche Mode of the "Music For The Masses" era present in the poetic and hypnotic "Fall" to the underground vein of "Here We Are", marked by a peculiar muffled scream in the refrain and a sophisticated musical carpet fit for the dancefloor. From the spectral fusion of piano and theremin in Trip Hop sauce and the raw war tableau of "In Your Eyes" to the carefree defiance of "Un’Altra Come Te", the first single extracted, where Electronics lends itself to Pop for an easy listening song that’s decidedly catchy. From the tongue-twisting refrain and nostalgic echoes of the Eiffel 65 past and the '80s in "You’re Amazing", to the experimentation, the meticulous care, the atypical vocal technique, and the sensual romanticism of "Nel Buio Tra Di Noi".

Ultimately, at the antipodes of the warm, intimate, and dreamy atmospheres of the first album, through the latest effort of Bloom 06, we are catapulted, from the very first moments of playback, into an elite nightclub where it's a challenging feat to resist the instinct to move to the beat, albeit with admirable elegance, far from uncoordinated schizophrenia or senseless head banging.