UNIVAQUE LOST IN A MAZE ALBUM SSC, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: AUGUST 23, 2004 REVIEW: AUGUST 26, 2004

Yes, SSC's new British signing Univaque do sound a lot like their mentors Elegant Machinery. We're served retro tinted analogue synthpop; this time without hints of Swenglish and with a significant sixties feel to many of the tracks. The vocal harmonies and chord changes on Univaque's first born "Lost in a Maze" made me remember some of my father's old vinyl records with bands like The Byrds and Herman's Hermits. Nice choirs and a vocalist keeping his distance from the ever present Dave Gahan-complex.
Robert and Johan from Elegant Machinery have helped producing the album, giving it that specific 1983 shimmer, but the British trio has written all of the catchy, pop laden eleven tracks on "Lost in a Maze". A solid synthpop effort with extra credit for the singles "Nothing Can Be Saved" and "Converted" as well as "This Isn't Home" and "Soul Inside".

NIKLAS FORSBERG