Sydney Valette’s How Many Lives LP was released as a ten-year anniversary album, celebrating a decade of his musical career. Since his early releases, French born Sydney Valette’s solo-project has progressed drastically in the past ten years - changing from the high-pitched chiptune style of 2009, into an evolved darkwave synth. Although some of those chipper synths still can be heard this latest release, there is a prevalent variation of sounds throughout the tracks; this release is surely not being constricted to a single style.
How Many Lives has a well-developed sound progression and is an expansion of Valette’s Space & Time EP released in November of last year. The album leads in with pop-esque tunes on the title track ‘How Many Lives’ and ‘I Can’t’, to work its way into a classic post-punk based sound with the guitar driven track ‘Lies’, and then into a more mellow darkwave sound rounding out the album on tracks like ‘Space & Time’.
On the remaining tracks, there is a well-balanced mix between the steady tracks, such as ‘New Pictures’ or the Sex Pistols cover ‘Anarchy in the UK’ (this track is only available on the Bandcamp version of the release), and the upbeat vibe possessed by tunes such as ‘Rzurekt’ allowing for an exciting mixture of musical tones.
Each track has a consistent catchy rhythm that will be sure to grab your heart on the first listen. Those who are fans of modern post-punk or darkwave such as ACTORS or Rendez-Vous will likely find a similar love for this album. Although similar in taste, I must hand it to Sydney Valette for putting his unique twist to the genres; this album has truly been an original one.
You can pick up this release and the rest of Sydney Valette’s discography over on Bandcamp here, and follow him on Facebook for more updates!
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