SCOTT HARDWARE - ENGEL
Rosie shares her thoughts on the latest Scott Hardware release, Engel, and tells you whether you should listen or not!
Scott Hardware is an experimental artist from Toronto, ready to release his second full-length album on Friday. Back in 2016, he released Mutate, Repeat, Infinity, an album that explores and focuses on political issues within the LGBTQ+ community, in particular the HIV/AIDS crisis and how it was shaped by capitalism. Carrying strong political messages are the fusion of dance, atmospheric and pop music borrowed from the ‘80s and ‘90s eras. “From a writing and production standpoint, I was trying to re-imagine various eras of dance music and sound as urgent and vital as they would have in their heyday of the ‘80s and ‘90s.”
Engel is based on the film Wings of Desire which explores the concept of angels listening to the thoughts of those that they are surrounded by. ‘Intro’ steals us away into a dreamland with slow, calming harmonies and sounds of rushing water, which then sound eerie and slightly out of tune. In the background is mumbled, spoken word while other random sounds jump in, creating an abundance of noise towards the end of the track, presumably representing the conflict of peace and chaos within life and death.
A Millionaire tells the story of courtship with someone unsuitable, since they live in a completely different world. Miserable clean guitar, out of tune synths and ethereal vocals translate into a narrative that follows the protagonist’s efforts to date someone with a much larger fortune than himself who then breaks his own heart due to his insecurities. A political message about the strong divide between the wealthy and the poor and what happens when the two worlds collide.
Engel is hugely artistic and surreal, the perfect soundtrack to a Dali art gallery. Originality really blooms here, you won’t know what to expect from each track at all and despite some of the darker lyrics, the feel of the album as a whole is uplifting and dreamy, a real piece of art.
Rosie Chalk
★★★☆☆