L’Avenue - En Vogue

Review by Karl Magi 

Overall Album Impressions

L’Avenue’s “En Vogue” is an indigo-tinged exploration of chilled-out, ‘80s-influenced synthwave that evokes atmospheric moments of rustling palm trees, tropical beaches and stylish penthouses through textures and melodies that contain pure calm and luxury.  L’Avenue has an unmistakable style that transports me through realms of imagination, conjuring up enchanting visions of a fantasy past with his musical talent. In the midst of summer heat, this album is like a cool splash of water.

Imagery and mood are central to “En Vogue’s” effectiveness, allowing the music to draw the listener into a world that is polished, luscious and brimming over with unbelievable beauty. The interweaving of sparkling, burnished synths with melodies that float in dreamy lines creates visions of crystal-clear oceans and breezy characters who hover like mirages. Alex Bone’s saxophone and TEKA’s guitar add an extra richness and depth to the overall atmosphere of the album.

Melodies imbue  “En Vogue” with a cinematic beauty that envelops the listener in billows of relaxed tranquillity that spreads outward like  an oceanic breeze. Each melody is a delicate thing that radiates gentleness and complete serenity, flowing along with a smoothness that has to be heard to be believed. As each of these tracks comes together, the music becomes more engaging and full of golden-tinged elegance, carrying me away from prosaic considerations.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Cover Girl” mixes exoticism and poolside calm as a cascading xylophone interweaves with ringing sonorities echoing into translucent soundscapes. Steady rhythmic pulses underpin images of diving into limpid waters as beauty is reflected in their depths. As an entangled xylophone weaves an image of resonant breezes, a melody of complete tranquility drifts like water against turquoise tiles.

Breathy panpipes exhale, drawing me into a world of calm and intense elegance, capturing the “cover girl’s” lissome nature in the music’s heart. Each musical element adds to a feeling of chilled-out ease, spending a day in tropical warmth. 

A steady heartbeat underpins levitating grace, painting a picture of lounging by palm-tree-shaded pools, face turned toward the sun. A journey unfolds in my mind as I feel soft melodic breath gliding above echoing, peaceful chords that transmit nothing but lazy summer vibes before breathing into silence.

As a profusion of birdsong intertwines with hypnotic tones that vibrate with luscious light, “Exotique” transports listeners to a jungle idyll as tropical mists condense. Pulling me into a trance, spinning notes flicker with unctuous chords and a roundly expansive underlayer, evoking emerald foliage.

An atmosphere of luxurious, surrounding warmth is broken by sonic ripples, like a still pond ruffled by humid breezes. As ethereal pipes sing, an image of beautiful flowers blooming in a canopy of verdant life comes to me. All of the relaxation of lounging on a veranda above a valley full of entangled beauty is painted by the airy notes that sail elegantly over foundational pulses.

As the percussion flows delicately, a feeling of letting go suffuses me, as reverberating feelings soothe me and richly calling pan pipes paint a picture of a jungle paradise, full of true natural wonder before the track ends.

“Electric Eyes” moves with silken notes that slowly take form, a jazz organ entangling with a summer glow. The track creates an atmosphere that exudes luxuriant sensations, cascading around a wide open sonic canvas. Distant notes drift while the rhythmic pulse provides forward motion and gentle vocal harmonies hover in the background while a zephyr eddies above darker supports. 

All of the vocal sounds have a detached, ghostly tenderness while the drums skip with a steady beat and liquid tones trickle and descend. The jazz organ’s chiming grace transmits unadulterated serenity to me as the laughter in the distance moves with endless brushing tone. 

Those sounds grow back into an insistent beat as creamy chords wrap around one another. Like an extended ribbon of luminosity, the synthesizer interlocks with the ringing jazz organ, deep bass and disrupted vocal sounds before this track concludes. 

A pulsing beat creates progress while a swelling tide of iridescence floods through the music as “Magazine” slides forward on a melody which feels awake and alive as it shines out with uplifting emotion. Hushed exhalations with a vocal quality fill me with tranquil sensations and affectionate closeness while the even bass foundation shifts. 

A melodic line floats from a luminous synth to capture thrilling potential while a wordless vocal line creates caring feelings. Melting tones drift, technological-sounding notes invoke peace and vocals hover above the guidance below. Exciting possibility pours from the soothing synth that wraps me up in misty warmth before the track finishes.

“Photo Shoot” generates impressions of a relaxed photo session as aquamarine tones tumble over each other in a calming pulse as while leaping notes are joined by explosive rhythmic power. Tripping along with a feeling of complete smoothness, neon flashes skip as an evocation of fun, light-hearted action captures me while steady motion permeates the underpinnings. 

Metallic tones entangle with thrilling luminosity as a broader synth flares with a tropical sun, calling to mind a joyful experience. Alex Bone’s saxophone cascades with fervent emotion and jazzy, silky sensations that capture a fantasy '80s fashion photo shoot. Images of big hair and a white dress suffuse the melody which intermingles with the reedy dynamism of the sax sounds. As we drift into a world of fascinating textures and sonic grace, the track exhales with all the excitement of the era. 

A sonic line that evokes light refracted by tropical water tumble as “Flamingo” takes shape over a rhythmic beat that moves it as extended washes of clear brightness evoke beach vibes. Brassy tones generate peace broken by more thrilling emotion as far off sounds evoke the distant conversations floating over the rustle of palm trees. 

A sparkling synth pattern draws me into all of the sensations of a summer vacation in the sun. A steady underlayer joins crystalline notes that call to mind water on sun-warmed skin before a building tonal line drenches everything in luscious brilliance as a secondary melody spills out to cover the music in feeling before the song closes. 

“Phoneline” subtly comes to life as ticking drums support fragile notes and a phone rings before the percussion and bass lock into a flickering pattern while extended notes paint sunset colours across the musical landscape. All of the notes move in a flow that evokes rising twilight and pink skies before chimes mix with strumming tones in a pattern that feels like the caress of starlight at evening’s edge. 

Sounds full of the tentative beauty of days fading into night echo as metallic sounds vibrate to create engaging peace.  Notes reverberate as they evoke the flash of street lights coming on as the rhythm and dense bassline intertwine. TEKA’s guitar solo calls to mind a crimson sky fading as the evening begins to grow into darkness. 

Brassy synthesizer creates illuminating exuberance while TEKA’s guitar carries a solo deep with supple elegance and serenity while the rhythmic foundation adds shape. All of the soaring energy captures me as the  solo unfolds and the track comes to an end with brilliance cascading underneath it while the groove carries on.

Intertwining notes pour out  in an effervescent wash as a wistful dream grows in “As The Light Fades” and the tentative percussion has a cobweb lightness while bells reverberate with twilight delicacy. Like the growing effulgence on the horizon, the synthesizer becomes an orange red glow, as the underpinnings rise like night’s veil. 

Percussion moves in a drifting tide that barely brushes the other musical elements as notes wander with barely touching softness, drawing me into a realm of growing calm. All of the musical elements drift like a soft nocturnal wind, transporting my stress away as they do so. Echoing tones move with a distant jazz organ that chimes with the light of rising stars before the track fades away. 

Conclusion

“En Vogue” Is a voyage into a 1980s world that never existed but which we all wish had. It is full of graceful, enticing soundscapes that carry me away from the mess and anxiety of this world to a place where water laps calmly on white sand and exotic blooms scent the air.

Synth Single Review: “Haunted” by Love Spirals Downwards

by Karl Magi

Love Spirals Downwards’ “Haunted” creates a misty atmosphere combining gentleness and the pain of loss and distance as it is shaped by subtle percussion while Ryan Lum’s guitar playing evokes all of the loneliness of midnight thought. 

Anji Lum’s voice falls like velvet across the music, echoing with spectral affection, as she captures the broken sensations slipping from the words. Ryan Lum’s guitar adds delicate radiance as it entangles with the gliding underlayer and the vocals breathe with all of the bereft emotion within the lyrics. 

The entire background is veiled in foggy contemplation as Anji Lum touches me with her vulnerable, ghostly voice before Ryan Lum plays a solo full of tentative touches and hurting feelings as the rhythm lightly brushes the music. As the song draws to a close, an unending ache fades into silence.

As she grows tired of seeing the song subject’s ghost at the foot of her bed and hearing "your voice rattling around in my head," our storyteller is haunted by the memory of the other person and there's "nothing more I can do.”

The narrator’s also exhausted by "counting the days that we've been apart" and feeling the other person's loss "like a hole in my heart." The spectral presence of what came before haunts her even though it's "naught but a shadow trailing across the floor." As her memory flickers, she points out that everything that is left is nothing more than a ghost.

Synth Single Review: “Canopy” by NÆ & Blizz

by Karl Magi

NÆ & Blizz’s “Canopy” jumps with groovy energy and an active foundational pulse as funky trumpets burst and NÆ & Blizz bring together their exuberant vocals to create positivity and joyful connection, trading off as brass adds showy dynamism and the chorus has a distinctive ‘60s pop quality. 

The gnarly bassline and wildly wriggling synth adds to the feeling of vintage cool as the two singers duet with vibrant liveliness. With a slower pulse, the percussion creates a hypnotic sensation while the singers capture all of the connection and excitement inherent in the lyrics. Blizz’s soaring trumpet rises with soulful power and explodes into the grooving bassline before the song closes out.

Inviting the second narrator to "meet me in the canopy, up so high" and share her dreams, the first narrator asks him to "stay with me in the canopy because you're so good to me." Both narrators talk about how, “if we fall apart, we’ll land together, leaning up against one another." Underlying shadows grow and the city rises above them, as they are forever.

Both storytellers think the “glow that flows below and up through the trees" is more than just a memory and the physical connection when they touch is hot like a "friction cone clutch.” The treetops are a "city in the sky, refuge for our lives" as they amplify everything. To conclude, both storytellers say that they “need a change to bring us back together, forever and forever."

Synth Single Review: “Best Of Me” by O.a.G

by Karl Magi

O.a.G’s “Best Of Me” expands outward with vibrant chords and a house rhythm that adds an undeniably groovy support to the low end before the piano lifts everything with a veil of luminescence. A melodic line wanders on an astral synth, bringing to mind powerful affection, while Wesley Reid’s heartfelt performance carries out with touching passion. Iwan Bedford imbues the music with warmth and positive energy through his production.

The underpinnings add a steady beat while vocals float with fervent feeling as the piano chords and active percussion create exuberant motion. Distant notes create moonlit luminosity while Wesley Reid reaches out with conviction and soulful need. Above the dance floor groove, burning attraction and deep fulfillment mingle in the melody, levitating on clean tones as the vocals carry every nuance of attachment. The chord changes create increased light before the song ends. 

 Wondering how it could be that the song's subject is "everything, the reason I rise every day," our narrator asks if they can hear him calling or see him falling now. He points out that "everywhere I go, one thing I know is that you are the best part of me." Through all the highs and lows, he wants to let the other person know that "you're the best part of me."

Asking if, "in the afterglow, can we let it flow? " He reiterates that the song’s subject is the best of him, adding that,  “you’re all I need, the one who drives me so crazy. " He wonders if the other person can feel the love growing around them. He concludes by saying, "everywhere I go, one thing I know is that you’re the best part of me. "