Element V is original and fresh sounding. The vocalist has a British '90s-band vibe to him. In fact, I was listening to Track 10 ("The V Element") this afternoon and my wife said, "That's techno." I stopped for a second and realized she's right. The keyboards reminded me of "What is Love," the 1993 song by Haddaway.
Voyager's first album is full of unexpected twists and turns, infusions of classical music, shades of techno and '90s pop, Eastern themes, and swelling instrumental passages that stir my soul. "What genre is this?" my wife asked after hearing another 3-4 tracks. Precisely. It can't be classified. It's original. However, that said, the vocalist reminds me of the vocalist from a '90s neo-prog band called Aragon that released a few albums on the now-defunct SI label. Aragon's vocalist also sang in that kind of emotive, talk-sing style. Must be an Aussie thing. Vocalists from Down Under have a distinctive style (Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil, Les Dougan from Aragon, Matt Swayne from brillig) that I find refreshing, if a little hard to get used to at first.
If Univers is anything like Element V, Voyager will be a band to watch. They have everything going for them that could sustain a long-term career.
Order placed. I can't wait to hear Univers!
