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Drab Majesty: Modern Mirror


     Drab Majesty are undoubtedly excellent songwriters. Their third album, Modern Mirror, has an incredibly strong musical identity and is further proof of their solid songwriting abilities. It is massively 80s in a most delicious way, and in a saturated scene obsessed with analog synth revival, Modern Mirror is many miles apart from both the yesteryear and modern acts making the rounds today. The 80s, thanks to Drab Majesty, are definitely alive and here to stay.

photo: Exclaim!

     The androgynous, mannequin-like Drab Majesty are Deb Demure and Mona D., the alter egos of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Clinco and collaborator Alex Nicolaou. Collectively, they make nocturnal, somber and hypnotic new/darkwave complete with reverb and chorus-laden guitars and moody synths. The addition of Telefon Tel Aviv’s Josh Eustis on production duties amplifies Drab’s addictive sound even further, and holy shit IT. IS. FUCKING. GOOD. Modern Mirror, without question, is their best album to date.

     Album opener ‘A Dialogue’ kicks things off with a hazy stir. Layers of ambient synths and drones build the song up to a marvelous crescendo as Demure sings “Don’t say you love/If I don’t say I love who you are now” in a hypnotic, mantra-like spell. The seven tracks that follow build on ‘A Dialogue’’s immersive atmosphere, taking the listener further into a pleasurable, Drab aesthetic of sound.

photo: durekert.com


     ‘Oxytocin’, the album’s standout track, opens with “I’m in love again/Of this make what you will/I’m just looking for that thrill tonight”, and these lines emotionally paint and frame the song. It is what a great pop song should be: impacting and remarkable. Its flanging iciness, driving beat and synth bass will have you relishing in sentimental nostalgia while crying on the dance floor with a bleeding heart. Other notable tracks are ‘Noise of the Void’, ‘Dolls in the Dark’ and ‘The Other Side’, but really, you’ll find it hard to pick a favorite of the eight songs that make up Modern Mirror. The only downer is that it is only 38 minutes long, and sometimes you need more time to become fully enveloped by Modern Mirror’s offerings. Repeated listens are surely encouraged.

     In short, Modern Mirror has all the makings of a most perfect pop-oriented album, if you will. It is catchy, full of reverbed gothic angst and deep synth grooves. The 80s influence is evident and effectively keep you hooked, but certainly not gimmicky, something many of today’s revival acts fall into. It is dark and mysterious enough for the goth kids to sink their teeth into while also being accessible to new crowds. The songs are tighter, more mature, and Demure’s more developed voice shines in a way that evokes a sometimes sweet, sometimes painful remembrance. Everything about Modern Mirror is exquisitely superb, and if Drab Majesty can make an album this grand, then surely they are only on their way to their quintessential masterpiece.

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