A new sublabel of the longstanding Canadian electro imprint Suction Records, Ice Machine — focusing on old-school wave/post-punk sounds — launches on Valentines Day 2020 with two fresh Canadian synth-pop LPs on vinyl. Along side a reissue of Ceramic Hello’s cult 1981 minimal synth classic “The Absence Of A Canary,” comes this, the self-titled debut LP from a new Toronto-based duo, Analytica.
Analytica is comprised of David Lush, who’s released several killer solo tapes under the name Memorex, and Gabe Knox, who made a big splash last year with his awesome instrumental synth/kraut solo LP “ABC” on acclaimed UK label Polytechnic Youth.
Analytica make synth-pop the old-fashioned way: driving, verse/chorus pop songs utilizing hardware synthesizers and drum machines, vocals and bass guitar, and recorded to tape. The comparisons to early-Depeche Mode (there’s even a cover of “Reason Man” — an unreleased, Vince Clarke-penned, Depeche song that was part of their earliest live sets), and prime-era New Order (right down to the Oberheim DMX percussion and Peter Hook-style bass guitar) are inevitable, but rarely are these sounds executed with such style and conviction. According to the band, lyrically Analytica “explore facets of the dark age ahead — the propaganda, the nationalism, the environmental disaster in front of our faces – while attempting to offer something of a defence against a nihilistic response to these fears. It’s at once a call to arms and a recognition that we’re entirely fucked.”
The LP contains 11 songs, and is housed in a stunning reverse-board jacket, and is limited to 500 copies.
| A1 | Soft Power | 1:54 |
| A2 | Blackwing | 3:05 |
| A3 | Submission | 4:39 |
| A4 | Counterfeit | 4:45 |
| A5 | Midnight | 3:10 |
| B1 | Reason Man | 2:54 |
| B2 | KIng Lobster | 3:09 |
| B3 | Floodland | 1:28 |
| B4 | Warships | 3:59 |
| B5 | Little Tiger Cats | 2:36 |
| B6 | Oblivion | 4:17 |
