I knew Warren, from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, through his remarkable ‘space-exploring’ shoegaze/dream-pop projects The Starlight Run and d.e.b.b.i.e., and I was somewhat surprised when, in the Fall of 2018, he introduced me to what would later become his lucky, self-released, debut EP “Retreat” from his new duet Control Room, driven by his passion for Joy Division / New Order, O.M.D. and generally the British post-punk, new wave and synthpop of the ’80s.
Obviously, I had no choice but to post my favourite song, “War”, as ‘Track Of The Day’, likely contributing in some way to spreading what would soon become a small cult object, spread far and wide from the most alternative radios and mixtapes, to the point of attracting attention by the always up-to-date Frankfurt am Main-based Cold Transmission Music imprint.
And right through the German label, Control Room’s debut full-length album, entitled “Scenery”, is in the home stretch, slated for release on April 30, from which have already been leaked a threesome of the band’s distinctive, minimal yet booming, melodic synth-laden sound made of vigorous rhythms, hazy clouds of waving brittle synths, meandering hypnotic bass throbs over emotional-ridden wistful vocals.
“I Woke Up And Everything Was Moving” triggers insistent, pounding and crashing drumbeats, interspersed by lashing claps, that lay a driving foundation for ominous thick and crispy bass lines that sinuously gurgle and slither, relentlessly awash by radiating and fluttering icy gleaming swathes of neurotic synth, over angsty introspective male vocals hypnotically fall into fearful lonely nostalgia.
Memories of lost love haunt a sleepless night, as echoes from the past cause a man to “lie in bed afraid to dream.”
Control Room‘s “Scenery” LP is due out April 30, 2020, on CD & Digital, via Cold Transmission Music, don’t miss out!
