SINGLE REVIEW: Seattle’s Robert Dale, aka Belgian Fog, wraps the ghostly apparition of Bryan Ferry into a coolly detached mist of dance floor dry ice in their ridiculously catchy, John Goodmanson-produced new single “You Drive Me To Madness.” This follow-up to the robotic bedroom synth pop of “Wait For Help” switches the Fog’s focus from late night noir to prime time light.
Meticulously composed, with pristine instrumentation and a none-too-subtle nod to the future-obsessed corner of the ’80s (the exact formula Daft Punk used to take your ears hostage this summer), ‘Madness’ slides in nicely alongside The National and TV On The Radio on $14 martini happy hour playlists. Gliding along almost too effortlessly, the suave thrust of ‘Madness’ leaves the distinct impression that the Fog, for now at least, are a 1-man show given the single’s uniformity of vision and execution. The instrumentation meshes and co-mingles as if all from the same seed.
While so many similarly-minded new(est) wave synth bands reduce themselves to well-dressed mannequins, drowning in their own monotonous detachment, Dale’s warm falsetto quiver gives human weight to the clinically precise, sleek new car shininess.
Another worthy entry into an already fertile field of artists genre and era-hopping through their laptops to make the old sound new again.
-Christian Uhl
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