Product Overview
Following on from their debut LP ‘Pop Soap’, Kosmetika refresh their eccentric psych pop origins with an 11 track venture into DIY new-wave, art-rock and synth-heavy pop hits.
The album has the quality of a lost release from the 80’s underground, equally as poppy as it is exploratory and strange. With Veeka Nazarova taking the reins as the sole vocalist on the record (departing from the dual lead vocalists of ‘Pop Soap’) and the lyrics switching between English and her native tongue of Russian, the record feels simultaneously pensive, imaginative and enigmatic.
Taking heavy inspiration from shoegaze, dark/synth wave and Russian gothic pop music, ‘Illustration’ is led by captivating synth sounds, intricate drum machine, melodic basslines and odd-form structures while maintaining their usual pop sensibilities. ‘Psycho TV’ and ‘Mne Nadoeli’ showcase the band delving deeper into this territory of abrasive industrial sounds, while tracks such as ‘Mokryj Asphalt’ hold steady in their power pop knack with an instantly singable chorus. Sitting somewhere in between, Kosmetika still maintain their krautrock-inspired origins, clinging to motorik beats and sharp synth melodies like in ‘Eighty Four’ or ‘Opaque’.
Illustration is painted with a broad brush but woven into something unique and cohesive, and with this record Kosmetika have managed to make a modern underground new-wave pop gem.
Tracklist:
A1 Strawberry Needles
A2 Psycho TV
A3 House
A4 Eighty Four
A5 Pick Up The Phone
A6 Opaque
B1 Institute of Kosmetika
B2 Mne Nadoeli
B3 Mokryj Asphalt
B4 Rosaleen
B5 Growing Up
