Vibrant synths, bopping bass and swinging beats, Ciinema’s debut, self-titled 6 track is a joy.
Wasting no time creating, a shimmering, neon synth heavy tone, ‘Lockdown’ opens with shimmering guitars before the silky vocals, bopping bass and punching kick heavy beat enters. as the track develops into it’s vibrant 80’s-centric chorus, the trio showcase their ability to craft infectious Jungle meets Röyksopp sound.
‘The Designers’ continues this trend with woodwind and world music inspired synth sounds which dance above the punching 808 beats and djembe. as the track develops a swelling synth bass enters and the vocals soar into a falsetto chorus, capturing such a joyous sense of 80s electronic pop whilst retaining enough depth in the instrumentation to be considered alternative.
Elsewhere across the six tracks ‘Safe As Houses’ offers cinematic synth pads, crunching bass in a dark synth-pop effort that enters a beautiful melancholic section with layers of processed vocal samples, subtle guitar lines towards it’s close. ‘Planet Eyes’ offers more of the band stylistic funky bass, etherial vocals and synth heavy production while ‘Light Me Up’ see the band lean further into guitar riffs, layer tight, bright guitar lines with their synth pop sound to great effect.
Closing with the swaying nu-soul effort, which makes use of Jai Paul-esque crunching swelling synths, bright guitars twinkling arpeggiators, the band close the EP with my personal highlight. A track full of tantalising riffs, a sumptuous key change, and silky, effortlessly captivating, infectious vocals.
A brilliant EP bringing together 80s nostalgia and fresh, vibrant synth heavy production, Ciinema showcase themselves as a definite one to watch across the six track self titled release.
Listen below:
