Friday 27 November 2020

MUSIC REVIEW: 'Enough Fears' - debut album from Scenius.


Scenius is an electronic duo consisting of Fabrice Nau (vocals) and Steve Whitfield (synths). Whitfield is also a member of the post-punk band Klammer, whose guitar heavy work is very different to the electronic beats and textures generated by the analogue synthesisers Whitfield uses in Scenius. The name Scenius, incidentally, comes from a quote from the musician Brian Eno (“… scenius is the intelligence of a whole… operation or group of people. And I think that’s a more useful way to think about culture, actually. I think that — let’s forget the idea of “genius” for a little while, let’s think about the whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work”) and the band does represent the notion of ‘scenius’ well – Nau is based in France and Whitfield is based in Leeds and both draw upon influences from their respective homelands and music and musicians from beyond that.

The debut album from Scenius is called ‘Enough Fears’ and is made up of eleven tracks. Interestingly, in this age of playlists and random, shuffle sequences, ‘Enough Fears’ actually sounds like a coherent album, a strong musical journey from beginning to end. The album kicks off with ‘Make It Shiny’ (the latest single), which manages to marry the influences of Kraftwerk (the opening few seconds in particular recall sounds found on the German band’s seminal album ‘The Man Machine’) with the dark lyricism of Martin Gore from Depeche Mode into a three-minute electro-pop banger. As a statement of intent for what is to come from Scenius throughout the album, it is certainly strong. Following on from that is ‘Some Of Your Nights’ – which musically recalls the Vince Clarke-era of Depeche Mode and, like much of the album, isn’t shy of embracing the musical flavour of its influences. It is worth pointing out that while the influences on Scenius are apparent (Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Air), Nau and Whitfield do not slavishly recreate the works of those groups; rather, they are able to combine elements of each and rework them into the distinct sound and mood that belongs to Scenius.

The third track on the album, ‘Wild And Wooly’, (also the second single released by the band after their debut release ‘Glass Rain’ which is absent from the album) crackles with an air of unease with its reverb-heavy percussion echoing away, while Nau’s vocals drift over the top of the soundscape. In an album which has already presented some interesting music within its first three tracks, it could be easy to overlook the polished vocal performance of Nau but there is one moment which showcases his skill well on this song where the music drops out briefly, leaving Nau to sing one line virtually unaccompanied (‘And I just wanted a name’) until the sparse backing picks up again as the song reaches its conclusion.

The fourth track – ‘Less Than Dreams’ – has a fantastic pop chorus built into it with some interesting musical textures and vocal effects, all of which combine to provide a suitably ‘dream-like’ flow to the song. The title track, ‘Enough Fears’, vocally comes on like a soothing salve for these strange, troubled times we are currently experiencing with the coronavirus pandemic, with Nau’s voice sounding very relaxing before a musical interlude which bubbles up from underneath and provides a hint of unease for the latter half of the song. Track number six is called ‘Held’ (again, another single release) and is the track which most strongly recalls the ambient work of Brian Eno – especially in its opening moments – before Nau sings in a mix of English and French. Incredibly, Nau doesn’t begin singing until halfway into the song; the first two minutes and fifteen seconds are taken up by the lush, electro-ambient sounds produced by Whitfield. This track does bear the influence of French electro duo Air, an influence which is even more apparent in the following song, ‘Superposés’ which is sung entirely in French by Nau. It is also this song where Whitefield’s post-punk inspiration comes to the fore with the melody line of the song recalling ‘Permafrost’ from the band Magazine.

‘Cookie Cutter’ kicks off the final part of the album. This song takes up the '80’s electro-pop concept and really runs with it – the synthesisers loop around and the synthesised drum beats pound out, marking a return to the sounds explored earlier in the album before the quieter, more reflective run of songs between the title track and ‘Superposés’. ‘Like Our Bones’ is full of bubbling electronica with a bridge between choruses which soars out of the speakers. Track ten, ‘Stark Relief’ would, for most other bands or groups, ordinarily be the album closer; this is a song which is built upon a sparse track with a galloping rhythm within it, while Nau intones the lyrics over it. It is the sound of contemplation, a move away from the more upbeat electro-pop moments found earlier in the record. However, in a move to avoid ending the album on too much of a reflective, even down beat, up comes ‘Darkest Lines’ which bookends the album nicely, recalling the ‘pop’ sounds and feeling of ‘Make It Shiny’ at the top of the album. It acts as a palette-cleanser from the preceding ten tracks and, perhaps, hints towards what is next for Scenius.

‘Enough Fears’ is a strong debut album which contains some genuinely outstanding electro-pop moments (‘Darkest Lines,’ ‘Less Than Dreams’, ‘Held’, ‘Superposés’, and the title track) and provides much for Whitfield and Nau to build upon in future work. Well worth seeking out, especially if you enjoy the electronic music of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the album is released on the 4th December.

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