SONIC GAP - Colonizer
Review by Mike Templar
Swedish electronic musician and music producer SONIC GAP presents his first real concept album Colonizer, also the first instrumental (except spoken words and vocoder) and was released on all major platforms on 3 September. He's a guitarist first and foremost, but this album can do without and it survives perfectly without. He has been around the synthwave/retrowave scene for a while and often shines with cinematic, funky and vocal elements and seems to be one of the musicians who can serve a wide field of genres and styles. In addition, he has been making music since the 1990s and has played guitar in jazz/rock bands, sung classical music (in various choirs) and made music on his computer, everything from chip-tune and tracker music to what you hear today. It is a logical consequence that his compositions are always very well thought out - a main characteristic I first stumbled upon when I heard his song "Shadow Man" or his EP "Coffee".
But now I would like to turn to his latest work. Sonic Gap describes the story behind his concept album as follows:
"The year is 2121 and Selene has settled on the moon with the other colonisers and started a new life as an AI specialist in the iron mining industry. She now lives in the lunar city of Cynthia near Shackleton Crater. Relocating to the moon was a dream come true for her. The dream of escaping her life on Earth. A new start in a new direction gave her independence and freedom for the first time in her life. But the moon has a dark side."
As an avid science fiction fan and writer, I naturally want to know more about Selene and this story! This would be an excellent starting point for a great scifi novella - I took the bait! Sonic Gap has shared his own thoughts on each song and I don't want to withhold them and add my own thoughts and conclusion afterwards.
1. Colonizer
“The first track is the overture to the entire concept album about a colonizer called Selene who moves to the Moon in 2121. The song spans several different styles that could be heard later on the album. From a more cinematic cyberpunk vibe to a more funky feel. The story here is narrated by Kaarin Zoe Lee (editor's note: American synthwave influencer, Nightride.FM DJ and Editor In Chief at RetroSynthMusic).”
2. Machine Learning
“A modern subject about AI and Machine Learning here, but in a retro cyberpunk Bladerunner-ish 1982 style. The filtered rhythmic pattern in the background is played "live" throughout the track via my modular (hardware) synth system.”
3. Weightless
“A more positive vibe about freedom and independence. You feel happy and weightless. Early 80's synthpop sound.”
4. Coming Home
“A warm funky ballad with retro elements from both the 70's and the 80's. I blend the slick Yamaha DX7 FM e.piano sound (80's) with a more dirty Rhodes piano (70's). It also gives the track a bit more edge and removes some of the buttery/sugary slick 80's ballad sound.”
5. Moonbase Treadmill
“A spacey workout track with a French touch. I have always wanted to make a track that includes French café accordion music (like Libertango by Grace Jones). Here I blend it in with a Daft-Punk-ish uptempo running track. I love those kinds of transitions.”
6. Late Night In Space
“Lofi night piano track with a chill trip-hop vibe. On a vinyl or cassette this track would be the ending of side A.”
7. Artemis
“Chill synth vibe with a bouncy beat. On a vinyl or cassette this track would be the start of side B. Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness and the Moon. Artemis is also the name of a NASA program to return humans to the moon in the mid-2020s. About 100 years before this story.”
8. Rocket
“A positive uptempo dance track with a quite strong melody. This was the first single released from this album.”
9. Amazing
“It's based on a sequenced pattern I made on my modular synth system. Then it is further developed into something between Daft Punk and Alphaville. The vocoder sings "You are amazing". It could be the Moon, Selene or maybe you.”
10. Lunar Cruise
“Here I try to blend 90's AcidJazz with Synthwave. I wanted a jazzy, cosmic and chill space-funk groove. Something to listen to while cruising around in the Moon vehicle.”
11. Shackleton Crater
“A Trip-Hop inspired track that reminds me of the 90's Portishead and Massive Attack vibe. I tried to imagine the suggestive feel of an iron mine near the Shackleton Crater on the Moon.”
12. Explorer 2121
“An adventurous track with both chip-tune arps and Moroder-Scarface chorus elements.
A grand ending of the whole album.”
From the short descriptions of the songs, you quickly realize that this is not just a space-wave album. Sonic Gap serves a variety of styles, such as uptempo, acid jazz, trip-hop, chip-tune, funk and what I would define as French cinema music of the 70s; I can't explain it more precisely, either you understand it or you don't. He skillfully blends these styles together in such a way that the whole album is a harmonious cast. I personally think that this is a special genius and even a trademark of Sonic Gap. For example, in the song "Moonbase Treadmill" an accordion plays chords that could have come from a French 70s drama film, which he then seamlessly transitions into synthesiser chords. This passage is accompanied by a female voice counting from one to four: "Un, deux, trois, quatre...".
Basically every song on the album is a beautiful composition and journey on Sonic Gap's space odyssey, but my absolute favorite song is "Weightless": It starts with a catchy, dragging and repetitive melody mixed with a strong beat. Add to that a dreamy pad and a really great solo melody with a meowing and air-cutting synthesizer and the song serves all the classic song parts to perfection. Towards the end of the song he pitches the melodies and this results in a great build-up at the end of the song.
Also worth mentioning are: "Coming Home" is a beautiful synth ballad with a Rhodes piano and playing with a fragmented vocoder that gives the song a 70s retro feel. "Late Night in Space" is a really cool lo-fi song with a trip-hop beat with a dull snare that echoes and a great chirping synth with a sophisticated delay. "Artemis" is a danceable chill-synth song that could best represent the space-wave genre and shines with atmospheric sounds in the background and a key change. "Lunar Cruise" is a jazzy space-funk track that offers so much that is a treat for a jazz musician's ears. If we had a time machine, I would travel back to the year 1985 with Sonic Gap and suggest to German TV to use this track for the German soundtrack adaptation of Captain Future or at least add it to Christian Bruhn's soundtrack.
For me, it's always interesting to hear what percussion and drum kits are used - I find that Sonic Gap has also achieved a desirable variety here, using different rhythms and beats, which I really like and value.
I can say without a doubt that all the other tracks also have their specialities and are also well worth listening to. Sonic Gap has succeeded in creating an excellent album in every aspect. I enjoyed this album very much and will listen to it many times in the future. For me, this album belongs at the top of the genres it serves and Sonic Gap proves once again that he is an outstanding artist.
Some additional production notes from Sonic Gap: “Most of the sounds are made with software instruments but in some tracks there are also hardware used. For those of you who are interested in synths you can probably hear sounds from the Roland Juno 60, Roland Juno 106, Korg Polysix, Yamaha DX7, Polymoog, Roland D-50 and the Rhodes electric piano. Some sounds are also totally unique and made with my modular (Eurorack) synth system.”
For more Sonic Gap, visit sonicgap.com
