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Another week, another pick! I have been out of commission the past couple of newsletters because I was sick, but I am back and ready to go! Who would have thought that a medication you take for one thing can make you even more sick? Being a pharmacy technician in my past life, I should have known this, but I guess it didn’t click in the cold medicine haze I found myself in. One good thing about being home sick: I was able to check out some new music and just live in my collection for a week. This week’s pick is a Finnish synth pop duo called Modem and their new album Megalomania.
I have a thing for danceable synth pop. As a kid, I remember going to Holland to visit my Mom’s side of the family and one of the first groups they showed us was Ace of Base and right after that, Eiffel 65. After that I was hooked on pop synth dance music. After getting older, I have found myself loving not just synth pop but a lot of subgenres such as dark wave and synth driven post punk—bands like Soft Cell, Depeche Mode and New Order.
Megalomania fits into that 80s pop phenomenon that folks craved in that time period. Very bass heavy tones and lead guitar riffs galore. When you hear this record, you would have no idea that it actually came out in 2024. On the track Goodbye Horses 2004, they sample the beginning guitar solo in Prince’s song “When Doves Cry.” This album will have you dancing or at the very least tapping your feet. From start to finish it’s a synth pop dream. At times, the vocals can feel very dark and this shifts with the music as well. It can go very basic thick bass synth that was well known in the 80s to a slowed down very goth type of feel.
Pick this record up and throw it on the turntable, put on a leather jacket, sunglasses and beret and dance the night away.