Review: Formants - You'd think it was a Mistake

Label: Softseed Music

No, this definitely is no mistake. FORMANTS is the new project of Derek from LOWER AUTOMATION, where he sings and plays the guitar. Despite getting top ratings and a release by Zegema Beach Records their 2021-album didn't grab me. Shockingly, I have to admit, that his solo-record got way more spins from me, even when it's far off my musical scope. 

Derek goes the electronic route with this one. He takes elements of Noise, Industrial and Dark Wave to create a moody piece of music. Altogether it's not that harsh, and more slow and brooding than hyper-fast. Still, it's not catchy or mellow. He uses a lot of distorting effects, and just like Derek's band, this is full of ideas and full of breaks. It's challenging, but it's bearable. The thing I probably dig the most is the fact, that most of these cuts are just two or two and a half minutes long. If these tracks would've been double the length, this would've turned me off in a hurry.

Most of the tracks use some vocals, but they are in the back of the mix, in a mumbled and quite odd kinda way. I like that they are not over-utilized, and found myself liking the tracks with little to no vocal-usage more than others. The standout is probably "Plague" with his "Halloween/Michael Myers"-kind-of synth-melody that crawls its way into all the Noise of the track, changing the direction in a cool fashion. "Liar" is also full of atmosphere, that's when  I realized I like FORMANTS the most when it heads towards New Wave and Synth Pop. 

FORMANTS' "You'd think it was a Mistake" came out via Sofseed Music, a new alternative label, run by Zegema Beach's Dave Norman. The tape also got his awesome swirl-treatment and looks quite amazing. Check this out if you're into this kind of electronic music or eager for something fresh in your playlist!

Formants on Bandcamp
Formants on Facebook
Formants on Instagram