WL//WH Review COLD COLORS / XIU
After an early quest at the turn of the new millennium, as Agent Orange, into IDM/Braindance territories innervated by his 80s New Wave and Coldwave roots, the Bordeaux-bred producer Frédérick Barber found his suitable idiosyncratic music niche in the guise of Cold Colors, to deliver a refined and lush distillation of Cold and Minimal Synth-Wave sonic visions enfolded in an expansive cosmic darkness.
Cold Colors
The French artist, through several releases with renowned independent labels such as Lux Rec, Oráculo Records, Waste Editions, Nocta Numerica, F.I.R., and Romance Moderne, weaves profound, enveloping, analog synth-laden melancholy, albeit suffused with the suitably glacial sharp tones, led by pulsing and obsessively hypnotic rhythmic patterns, combined, at times, with electro dancefloor energy, adjacent both to the neon strobing light and to greyscale cinematic mists, set on a nostalgic and stirring melodic core.
The still operative Cold Colors is essentially an instrumental project, except for an occasional 2013 collaboration, in the form of a 4-track cassette EP via Vocoder Tapes, with the Eastern European musician, chanteuse, and lyricist of Lithuanian origin, now relocated to Milan, Oksana Rodionova, a.k.a. Xiu, who was particularly productive in the 2010s with a “synthesis between retro-pop and futurist synth waves.”
The dedicated UK imprint and mail order since 2013, Peripheral Minimal Records, has just dropped a limited 7-inch single (250 copies) featuring two tracks from the 2013-14 French/Italian sessions by Cold Colours/Xiu, namely the lead single “Tristesse“ and “Another Day.”
Xiu
French lyrics adapted from the poem “Sadness” by the nineteenth-century dramatist, poet, and novelist Alfred de Musset, reminiscent of the bewitching, evocative, cinematic veil of intrigue from Peine Perdue, after losing life, cheer, and pride, sadly introspective, soft-spoken vocals waft on the sonorous, droning undulations of a gurgling, arpeggiated bassline, ceaselessly stabbed by metronomic beats, along with icy, forlorn synth swells, gently releasing shadowy echoes and distressed, drawn-out hums due to a complete loss of self-confidence.
More bouncy, dizzy, and uplifting at the same time, wishing for “Another Day” with a loved one, the danceable nocturnal flip is driven by a skittering interlacing of hopping, punchy drum programming, tightly throbbing low ends, anxious pulls of buzzing, spiraling synths, and dazzling stretches over a wistful, regret-laden male vocal saturated by the vibrant, cathartic radiations of female celestial skies.
Definitely a must purchase for every Minimal Wave aficionado and a future collection item as well.
Cold Colors / Xiu‘s limited edition (250 copies) black vinyl 7″ single, “Tristesse”, is out now on Peripheral Minimal Records.
COLD COLORS | Facebook | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Instagram |
XIU | Facebook | Soundcloud | Discogs | YouTube | Instagram |
PERIPHERAL MINIMAL | Site | Facebook | Discogs | Soundcloud | Instagram |
