Eugene is Eugenio Valente from Rome. He is described as an eclectic artist and producer with a special focus on electronic sounds. He also works as a remixer and soundtrack composer. His new EP is called ‘Sydereal’. I imagine that many of you are thinking, why is it called that. Well it contains some electro styled covers of some classic Syd Barrett tracks. There are two tracks from ‘The Madcap Laughs’ (1970). One track is from ‘Barrett’ (1970). Another one is from Pink Floyd’s debut album ‘Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’ (1967). Eugene captures the wonderful whimsy sound and feel that filled many of Syd’s songs. But he brings them neatly and nicely into the 21st Century.
The EP kicks off with two tracks from ‘The Madcap Laughs’. “Golden Hair” and “Love You”. “Golden Hair” has a really dark tone. It possesses an almost light horror quality. In some ways, it haunts you long after it has finished. Eugene gives “Love You” a wonderful electro pop style makeover which in some ways made me think of Mika. This is the first single to be taken from the EP, and given how catchy the sound is I am not surprised. Could anyone other than Syd Barrett have written a song called “Effervescing Elephant”? I suspect not. Eugene keeps the spirit of Syd well and truly alive with such a fun take on a fun song. The EP closes with an ethereal, fairground like, chilled dance spin on “Astronomy Divine”. I felt like I could drown or drift away in the cinematic waves of sound in this song. This is probably my favourite track of the four, but it is a close competition.
Eugene had this to say about why he likes Syd and why he decided to do this EP. “Barrett has always represented the purest example of creative freedom to me. He transcends time and evokes something cosmic—something ‘sidereal’—that gives life to unimaginable dreams, just like the cover artwork, where an electronic circuit is brought to life by a magnificent diamond through what feels like magic or alchemy.” Please check out ‘Sydereal’ I love it and I hope that you will too!
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