Artist: Aesthetic Perfection
Release: ‘Til Death
Release Date: 10th February 2014
Aesthetic Perfection is the brain child of songwriter Daniel Graves, a man who has forged his own unique sound without the pressures of people telling him what to do. His latest offering in the form of ‘‘Til Death’ highlights the freedom he has as an artist, with him answering to only himself, which has produced something out of the ordinary, it has created a sound that is shrouded in an air of mystery and chaos. There are elements and influences here that remind us of a darker and more sinister Depeche Mode, from start to finish it’s an album that shy’s away from the norm.
We get started with the eerie, ‘Happily Ever After’, which will make you feel like you are reluctantly walking through a foggy graveyard, with one eye over your shoulder. It sends shivers down the spine, its pulsating synths and marching drums create an air of complete obscurity, whilst the whispering vocals make you feel gloomy inside. After such a sinister opening to an album, you would think from here on out it was going to be much of the same, but the variation on this album makes it eclectic and a true testament to AP’s writing.
The synth laden tracks in the form of ‘Antibody’ and ‘Lights Out (Ready To Go)’, both offer haunting melodies, it has some undertones of what Lady Gaga would be doing if she wasn’t a Pop puppet. The latter has a fist pumping high tempo, with the track starting and ending with this Nintendo-esque melody, which is frightening yet uplifting. This album will toy with your mind!
Graves has fashioned himself a sound that takes influences from the likes of Marylin Manson, Depeche Mode and Gary Numan, there is so many dark elements to this album, but he has sculpted them into a sound that will only make it recognizable to Aesthetic Perfection. Standing out from the pack, comes from a track that really struts its stuff, with ‘Showtime’ sounding like it would fit in perfectly at a vampire’s Ball. It’s theatrical and comes with a crescendo of crashing symbols and a string section lingering over the track, which evolves it into this creepy encounter, its classy yet gruesome.
‘Oh,Gloria!’ is a pop song that has been taken through a dark transformation, it has this ‘Personal Jesus’ vibe to it, Graves’ vocals are soft yet eloquent with melodic hooks to really entice the listener. It has all the makings of a really sinister pop hit, it’s path towards a dark but yet uplifting pop beat makes it catchy as hell, it will mess with your mind.
This album is definitely made for people with an eclectic taste in music, as it could alienate some people who are not as open minded about music like this, but you cannot fault Aesthetic Perfection’s ethos and work ethic. To cast aside all musical cliché’s and produce something like this, takes balls, the songwriting ability and a lot of courage, so hats off to Daniel Graves for not being afraid of doing what he knows best.
7/10
