MARLOW INSIDE/OUTSIDE ALBUM ELECTRO SHOCK RELEASE: JANUARY 29, 2009 REVIEW: JANUARY 22, 2009

I still haven't completed my Robert Marlow 12" collection. As I have spent the last year or so dealing in vinyl, I have acquired most of the Brit's work, considering him a synthpop legend from the past. Little did I know a brand new album had been recorded, although it is released by ex-Release News writer and photographer Jens Krause's Electro Shock label in Germany.

Starting from the first bass pounding beats of the title track, one can hear that "Inside/Outside" is an attempt to incorporate contemporary dance flavours into the new Marlow concept. Distant, slightly distorted vocals will probably scare away a few of the old fans, but in "The Strip" things become much more vintage. Straight up eighties tinged synthpop with a touch of Gary Numan as well as Ultravox and John Foxx. Moving along, modern sounds mix with old ones, but Marlow's characteristic vocals and peculiar way of constructing songs always shine through. Some moments are very pleasant indeed, while others sadly pass by through some sort of sinister standard mold.

Marlow, aided on this album by Gary Durant, have taken the old sound of the eighties and updated it, sometimes successfully and other times making it sound pretty flat. The track where Durant takes over the mic is actually the best one on "Inside/Outside", as proven in the mellow dance number "Stars". Still, welcome back, Robert!

NIKLAS FORSBERG