Colder: Heat

Herald rating: * * * *

Even though he doesn't sound like it, Marc Nguyen Tan is pretty happy making music by himself, under the name Colder. He sings like his mouth is barely open and the dark and sparse music slopes along like a teenager dressed in black. During the first three tracks you fear there's a lack of dynamics to make this intriguing music, well, interesting.

That is until track four, To The Music - a dark dancefloor jaunt where that adolescent kid mentioned above pops a party pill, meets his first love, and starts strolling.

Heat, Colder's second album after 2003's Again, conjures up the stealth of Joy Division, the pure industrial of Throbbing Gristle, a bit of Faith and Seventeen Seconds-era Cure, the blunt ambience of Scorn, and finally, a dirty side of disco. However, there is definitely something French about Colder, but not in the Daft Punk cheese or eeriness of Air kind of way. It's more to do with an ultra-cool and sophisticated vibe which gives it a contemporary edge despite the obviousness of his older musical influences.

For some, Colder's mood could come across as aloof and indulgent, but get into it because it's all class. And yes, it is dark, but with lots of blood red stabs of guitars, organs, and fathom sucking sounds scattered throughout, it makes for a great listen. And the odd boogie.

Label: Modular