HENRIC DE LA COUR HENRIC DE LA COUR ALBUM PROGRESS PRODUCTIONS RELEASE: OCTOBER 19, 2011 REVIEW: OCTOBER 24, 2011

After disbanding indie rock bands Yvonne and Strip Music, Henric de la Cour has been silent for a while. He hasn’t been idle though, as he’s been diligently working on his first solo album. The self titled full length is now completed and ready to greet the world. And immediately you notice that gone are the classic rock trappings, and reporting for duty are instead cold, often minimal electronics with frail vocals and sometimes guitars sprinkled on top - albeit with an indie pop sort of feel to it. This is also his first album on the label Progress Productions, who are taking a step outside their usual comfort zone of hard EBM and synthpop. A new beginning for both maybe?

Even though Henric has been musically active for a long time in his different guises, his new sound is eerily contemporary and wouldn’t feel out of place playing in a hip East London club in 2011. It’s quite impressive, and so is the fact that the album is so varied. It contains everything from soft ambient such as the opening “Hank Solo” to rockier ventures like the first single “Dogs” (which sounds a bit like an Editors track), via the arpeggiated “almost EBM” goodness of “Son of a Bitch”. Henric manages to twist and turn his vocal chords into different beasts as well, from soft crooning to edgy; sometimes in the same song.

It seems like Henric copes rather well working on his own, and this his third rebirth seems very promising. I will follow this reincarnation with great interest. Some bonus points also have to go towards the Black Swan-esque cover, where a pale, vampire-like Henric looks fiercely towards the lens.

JOHAN CARLSSON