UNITARY SAFE FROM HARM ALBUM INFACTED RELEASE: JULY 29, 2011 REVIEW: OCTOBER 20, 2011

Unitary is a Swedish futurepop project that sounds like a mix between Apoptygma Berzerk, Covenant and VNV Nation (and sometimes a bit like the old Norwegian synthpop band Echo Image). It’s a solo outifit that consists only of Johan Hansson, and he started out under this moniker in 2003 when he released the first album “Second to None”. Fast forward a whole bunch of years to 2011 and now “Safe from Harm” is out, featuring twelve electronic songs that blip along merrily together.

First off, It’s not a heavy dance album. I guess you can describe it as more of a synthpoppier futurepop album, pretty lightweight actually. I would have preferred a bit more oomph, depth and dynamics at times. In relation to this, I also have some problems with his sound design, as Unitary is using way too many standard, cliched sounds for my taste. Vocally it’s a bit uneven as well - Johan is using the traditional “dark” singing voice - and his Swenglish pronunciation shines through from time to time.

All things considered though, it’s a pretty sweet album if you look beneath these technicalities, and if you’re into the above mentioned bands I have no doubt you will enjoy this too. Johan has a firm grip on how to create moods, and tracks like “Clarity” and "Closer Apart" for example just oozes with atmosphere. If only he had worked a little more on the production and carving out his own identity.

JOHAN CARLSSON