Turkish goths She Past Away are back with their third and
long-awaited new album, Disko Anksiyete,
a masterfully crafted blend of post-punk, dark wave and gothic rock
(obviously). On Disko Anksiyete (Anxiety Disco in English), the
duo comprised of guitarist/vocalist Volkan Caner and producer/keyboardist Doruk
Ozturkan switch gears a bit and go into more pop structured/disco-y territory, but
the band doesn’t completely abandon their typical sound. Easily their more
accessible album, Disko is full of
80s cold wave/post-punk influence, alluding to the classic sounds of Joy
Division and New Order. Caner displays unique musicianship and his singing is
reminiscent of the Sisters of Mercy’s Andrew Eldritch, while Ozturkan’s keyboard
washes and production are crisp, polished and solid.
photo: rockallphotography.com
In comparison to their previous releases, debut Belirdi Gece and the sophomoric Narin Yalnızlık, both phenomenal albums,
Disko is certainly the standout that
will bring the band more popularity, and the payoff is evident. They will
venture on their first North American tour this summer, and their only Texas
date is sold out. If one considers their exclusively Turkish lyrics to be a
language barrier, it most certainly is not, with many a night club spinning
their music to packed floors of black-clad fans and the band having developed a
sizeable cult following. Disko finds
the duo expanding their sound, in which they explore more of the avant-garde
sensibilities of goth and forgoing some of the more simplistic and traditional
attributes of the genre. It is a diverse, gloomy affair with poetic-sounding
lyrics complimenting a dark, minimalist sound, and if this album proves to be
their biggest one yet, She Past Away will indeed grow into an even more
excitingly innovative group.
With their large international appeal, couldn’t the band
adopt even more universality and sing lyrics in other languages? Rammstein, another
foreign export certainly not in the same caliber as She Past Away, do it. They
have songs in English, Spanish and Russian in addition to German. She Past
Away, however, stick to their mother tongue, and it works ever so beautifully.
The need for another language in their music is almost unthinkable. Without any
research into their English translations (I know, lazy), the vocal sentiments
here conjure anxieties, nihilism, and the questioning of existence. It’s not
often that one can dance and lose themselves to the darkness and feel as if
they’re experiencing an ethereal awakening, and She Past Away is one of those
few bands that can do it with such natural ease. If depressing and melancholic
can work hand in hand in a beautiful way that it makes you pick cobwebs off the
ceiling and step over dead bodies on the dance floor, Disko is it.
photo: brickbybrick.com
The band has been around for a decade, and each of their
albums showcases their particular points in time. Belirdi Gece found them building their footing, a debut with an
obvious direction but still needing more time. Narin Yalnızlık has more solidity and structure. Disko Anksiyete is the sound of a band
that now knows its place, akin to Depeche Mode’s Some Great Reward. Disko is
for the fan of gloomy, danceable goth rock. It is for the new/cold wave kid. It
is for the punks. It is an album for anyone that’s a fan of really good music,
the listener with an open ear, for those enticed by the dark and mysterious. To
miss this one would be a true shame.
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