Music Review Of This Is Alphabeat By Alphabeat

“Alphabeat” are a six-piece Danish indie pop group/band hailed from Silkeborg, Denmark. Alphabeat consist of Anders SG (Vocals), Stine Bramsen (Vocals), Anders B (Bass), Rasmus Nagel (Keyboards), Anders Reinholdt (Guitar) and Troels Hansen (Drums). Their music evolves around retro melodic 80s pop with inspirations taken from Deacon Blue and Prefab Sprout. Alphabeat are also noted for their male and female vocals harmonies as a result of the singing combination of Anders SG and Stine Bramsen. This Is Alphabeat makes me go dancing with their album opener “Fantastic 6". When the music comes on, Alphabeat can be heard voicing, “Ah… Ah… Woo…”. With the 80s atmosphere, i find Fantastic 6 a very good track, especially in the chorus where Alphabeat’s Anders SG and Stine did a double together, “…Twenty four seven, from Heaven, they’ll be watching over all of us, the international, professionals…”. It’s not only the music that makes Fantastic 6 such a good opener, the harmonized vocals by Alphabeat also make a great impression here. Lovely! “Fascination” just knows how to get it on. With the drums going on and the guitar that vividly brings back the 80s era, Fascination is just what its title suggests! The part before the chorus is just one of best feelings you’ll get on this track, “Fascination, fascination, it’s just the way we feel…” Sooner before you think, Alphabeat shift into another gear and get it on with an energetic chorus, “We love this exaltation, woo… We want the new temptations, woo… It’s like a revelation, woo… We live on fascination…” After each phrase, Alphabeat will complement it with their soft yet powerful melodic howls, great vocals by Anders SG and Stine. Just a moment to be remembered. “10,000 Nights” has the keyboard running at the beginning. As the music plays in the background, Anders SG and Stine just exchange vocals. When the chorus comes, Alphabeat always make sure that it’s going to be a blast. Anders SG and Stine just know what to here, with the music bringing them to the best part of 10,000 Nights, they just go, “Give me 10.000 nights of thunder, but I will give them all back to you, because you’re so ooh.. (du-du-du), you’re so ahh,(du-du-du), you’re so cool (Baby you’re so super supreme…). Stine just does it very good with the “du, du, du”. Both of them just have great timing, as if they were born as twins. Not only that, the guitar riffs in this track are just as loud as the 80s guitar as well. Throughout 10,000 Nights, the keyboard just keeps playing without any breaks. Impressive vocals and music here! “Boyfriend” sounds sarcastic yet happy. Once it enters, Stine’s sweet voice just takes charge and the part just before the chorus, has a very nice and catchy rhythm to it. Even the music in that part has a very nice high-pitched squeaky sound to it that comes on and off as Stine sings, “Oh yeah, it’s just because i’m crazy in love, crazy in love…” And the way Stine voices the word “Crazy”, it’s as if she is stressing that word. Boyfriend only has Stine singing, but it’s still crazily good. Her voice at times is very echoic and bubbly! “Oh no, don’t you touch my boyfriend, he’s not your boyfriend, he’s mine…” “What Is Happening” starts off slow with Anders SG first sings then followed by Stine. The verse is smart, “Oh, when I said I need you so much, i was dead, i was alive when you were right here by my side, we both could see, that I needed you, you needed me, and now we both regret…” In the chorus, both Anders SG and Stine just grab the vocals together. The violin is also first heard here when they both sing. After the second chorus, the whole track just awed me with the guitar that slightly resembles “Say Hello To The Angels” by Interpol. The violin also joins in and together with the howls, i suddenly have the feeling of we’re celebrating Christmas all over again. Beautiful! “Go Go” starts off with some lazy-like bass sound before the sound of synthesizers and keyboards just come in. As Stine sings, i can’t help but noticing the guitar plucking in the background. Go Go has the quality of a dancing pop tune. In the break, Anders SG enters and has his share of the pie. As he sings, Stine just know how to add the extra rhythm and energy to it. The synthesizers in this track is really the core of Go Go, it really makes me go and go, and go. “Touch Me Touching You” has really cheeky bassline. It made me smile as it keeps playing throughout the whole track. I feel a heavy usage of synthesizers in this track. At times, Anders SG can be heard singing with a girlish voice rather than her usual voice. With today’s advanced technology, i wouldn’t blame you if you think a single person is able to do the whole mixing of this track. As the title almost suggests, the most sung phrase in this track is “Gonna touch you baby, gonna touch you baby…” What a wild electronic pop experience here, everything seems so fast in this track. “Rubber Boots” is a slow drive ballad. After some energy-packed songs, Alphabeat decide to slow it down with Rubber Boots. Well, everyone must be tired after a handful of energy-packed songs. Anders SG can be heard singing in a robotic voice here. Even the whole song sounds very robotic especially the chorus where Anders SG goes, “You should wear rubber, always wear rubber, you should wear rubber…” An echoic squeaky sound can be heard here as Anders SG sings, just like those you would hear from a DJ. Everything seems slow with this track, a perfect reminder or ringing bell for those who are always wanting things to be fast. Synthesizers are of heavy use here. “Public Image” captures me with the whistle and bass at the beginning. It’s very chirpy and cheerful. Throughout Public Image, the pace is fast and the music is very cheerful, creating a positive and feel-good vibe. Anders SG sings effortlessly throughout Public Image and let it over-powered by the music. This song would rock the house if Alphabeat decides to play it live, as it also contains a bit rock influence in it, which can be clearly heard with the drums, guitar and bass. Just love the sampler’s whistle! “Nothing But My Baby” has some cowboy and country influences in it. The drum beats remind me of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”. Anders SG is reunited with Stine in this track. The chorus definitely has the potential to be in a cowboy flick. The music and the singing just have the atmosphere of it, “I’m nothing but my baby… Ooh… Ooh…” If you listen closely, there’s a faint howl in the background that really resembles Michael Jackson’s trademark and famous howl. What an anthemic end to This Is Alphabeat! Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Fantastic 6, Fascination, 10,000 Nights, Boyfriend, What Is Happening, Go Go and Public Image. Cheers! Darren Tan Indiesurf.com