Blue Velvet | In Event of Moon Disaster | Album Review

Buh Records
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Blue Velvet recently released their debut album, In Event of Moon Disaster. A lesser-known addition to the synthwave community, Blue Velvet is an up-and-coming artist based out of Peru. They combine their own take of songs that resonate heavily with the sounds of sci-fi soundtracks.

From start to end, the album’s combination of industrial and electronic sounds meshed with the vibrantly dissonant tones that synthwave music is known for brings its own kind of life to the subgenre. From front man Antonio Bellester’s instrumentals to the hypnotically lulling yet unintelligible vocal talents of Noelia Cabrera, this album is well worth a listen. The waves of rhythm and distant vocal work in “Dark Room” as well as in the night club-esk node drops and mechanical sound of “Feurer,” Blue Velvet showcases a great degree of synthwave’s versatility to the electronic genre while also elegantly adding in subtle undertones that really appear in EDM.

Dark and yet astral in their delivery, Blue Velvet adds not only a clear representation of lively and mechanical sound but also creates an entire experience of its own that meshes sharp industrial notes with ephemeral effects to create something entirely its own.

One major critique of In Event of Moon Disaster is that the sub-genre synthwave is an acquired taste, even for those who love electronic music. Slower than dubstep yet not slow enough to lull anyone to sleep by casually listening. However, buyer beware, the way Blue Velvet creates sounds that ride the line between amped and mellow may be confusing to some listeners or interesting, depending on how involved they are with listening to EDM as a genre.

Hazy, dark yet elegant with their mix of traditional dark synthwave sounds and pleasing siren-like vocals. This album is certainly worth a listen for an experience of synthwave that is unique compared to others in the subgenre.