What a bag of goodies this one is folks. It's that stone cold classic that never emerged from 4AD in their heyday. Or, at least, that was my first impression when I got this almost a year ago. The brain trust here and lead vocalist Andrew Clinco is better known as a session drummer in L.A. with various other bands, but here he takes lead as an androgynous vampiric persona known as Deb Demure, with a voice that sits somewhere between Roland Orzabel (Tears For Fears) and his idol Robert Smith. Does it work? Splendidly.

Some haunting synth patches on instrumental opener 'Induction' sets the tone well before a haunting guitar motif marks the beginning of 'Dot In The Sky', a catchy slab of gloom, doom and paranoia that would have been my pick for lead single if such a thing had any real meaning in 2017. That synth counterpoint melody that weaves in around the halfway mark is pure brilliance, but there's quite a few mountain peaks on this record without many valleys. The reverberating, almost chant-like vocal layering on 'Not Just A Name', the strangely upbeat 'Too Soon To Tell' that sounds like something from early Joy Division, that rising industrial wall of noise as the second half of closer 'Behind The Wall' goes on....there are so many great moments like this across every song that give you a real appreciation to just how much Mr. Clinco has immersed himself in his music in order to create such an authentic, vibrant recreation of this particular golden age of synth-pop.

One thing I find interesting about The Demonstration is it's lyrical preoccupation with the idea of death betraying the expectations we have in life, but at the same time embracing the idea that there's something beyond this life where people who have been separated can be together again. For an album that is so wrapped up in the dark sounds of this music's nihilistic forefathers, the idea that there's some kind of hope buried within the dark eyeliner and grave soil is rather fascinating and extra icing on the cake for me. Check it out!