Electronic
Electronic

THE REVIEW

The term 'supergroup', used to define bands composed of young musicians from diverse musical backgrounds, is curious. Why, indeed, must a group composed of members from already existing bands automatically be labeled as 'super'? So it is. Perhaps Electronic weren't 'super', but certainly, the project had solid foundations and significant feedback.

It happened that in 1984 Bernard Sumner of New Order and Johnny Marr of Smiths met. They sketched an idea. In other words: yes, okay, sure, we have our bands, wouldn't want it any other way, but if we ever get tired of Peter Hook and Morrisey, so to speak, we could meet and do something together, between a guitar and a synth. Nothing major: just some jam sessions among friends.

Said and done. Some time passed, then the two new friends met again, this time not by chance but to lay the foundations of their debut work, "Electronic" (1991). To take the first step, they asked for and received the support of Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys. The result was the single "Getting Away With It", a few minutes of delightful pop, a hybrid between the latest Fleetwood Mac and Kylie Minogue, a song to which Neil also lent his unmistakable voice. It was 1989. The experiment was well-received, with positive feedback from both critics and sales.

The injection of confidence pushed the duo to take courage, thereby experimenting without renouncing their creative vein, overcoming their reluctance to put down traditional instruments in favor of synths. The primary inspiration came from Technotronic, who had taken the world by storm in 1990 with "Pump Up The Jam" and the self-referential "This Beat Is Technotronic". Clearly, the melodic imprint and the structure were rooted in the experiences of the duo, who, synth for synth, didn't emerge from nightclubs but from top-tier live performances and hard work of harmonizing in studios. It results in an album that pays homage to the title and epitaph of the group, a dance project that, however, is not for dancing. It sounds strange, doesn't it? "Electronic" is an album to metabolize and listen to while seated in an armchair, with headphones, under dim lights. Because labeling it as merely a dance project would be superficial. "Electronic" goes deeper.

The song that opens the album, "Idiot Country", is a hybrid of what we will find in the subsequent tracks. Therefore: dance bases, guitars, rhythm, subtle lyrics with immediate impact that hit the mark ("It's an open act of defiance, and it's aimed direct with you. We could form some kind of alliance, we could do what we wanted to do"). The quality of the "unz-unz" in "Reality", where Sumner enjoys playing the coquettish ("I don't need you anymore; I'm not the man you looking for"). And it's precisely where our two cast shadows that the album reaches its highest peaks. "Gangster" ("I don't need a doctor telling me I'm full of juice"), "Try All You Want" ("If you want to go, I just can say no...") and "Some Distant Memory", here magnificently with the invocation of a desperate Sumner ("It's so easy, why are you leaving? Is it just because I've grown afraid of you...?") crowned by the majestic instrumental intermezzo "Soviet", convince and satisfy more than the catchier and loose tracks proposed as singles, the already mentioned "Getting Away With It", "Tighten Up", "Get The Message" and "Feel Every Beat", which precisely because they are singles, choose a safer path proposing a fresher, impactful, and semi-acoustic sound. "The Patience Of A Saint", once again featuring Tennant (supported on this occasion by his partner Lowe on keyboards) on lyrics and voice, slows down the pace and, in the writer's opinion, does not enhance the final product. Much better is the non-album track proposed as a single the following year, "Disappointed", again with Tennant on vocals, which slightly departs from the project for the aforementioned radio reasons.

Among the b-sides, notable is "Free Will" present in the single "Get The Message", a track infused with breakdance and featuring an atypical (given the structure of the track) solo by Marr in the finale.

In short: whether the group is super or not, it is certainly well-matched. Sumner and Marr do not hesitate to embellish while staying on track, leaving a clear and traceable imprint of their past while winking at modernity and, perhaps for the first time, even at worldliness.