Ice Choir - Afar (Vinyl LP, CD)

Pain of Being Pure of Heart Kurt Feldman has been a busy lad. On the top of his day job as crossover megastar extraordinaire with his band, he’s got this Ice Choir solo project where he makes very ‘80s soft synthpop. The equipment he’s using is strictly ‘80s synth, with loads of instantly-familiar Yamaha DX7 sounds for that true nostalgic vibe. It’s got the cerebral nostalgic synth geekery of the likes of Ford & Lopatin/Airbird, but with a more pure pop sensibility that’s reminding me of modern types like Diamond Rings as well as all sorts of ‘80s stuff, early Madonna production, touches of Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Human League, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics - we’re talking bona fide old school synthpop tones.

Sometimes I feel like they’re pushing the cheese aspect too far and drifting into Stock, Aitken & Waterman territory but that’s the ‘80s synthpop style for you isn’t it. It’s been taking me ages to figure out who his voice reminds me of and I can’t put my finger on it. I guess a cross between Neil Tennant and whichever one of Ford and Lopatin does the singing and George Michael. I’m gonna stop throwing out the comparisons now because Business Lady, who knows more about synthesisers than I do, is making fun of me, but if you’re into this synthy ‘80s throwback pop then this will taste delicious to you.