Parralox, Electricity

Every once in a while, no more than twice a decade perhaps, a truly seminal album emerges. Electricity by new Australian electro duo Parralox certainly deserves such praise. Less than two weeks after its release it is already amongst a select few albums that I can't imagine living without, such as Dare (Human League), Metamatic (John Foxx), Replicas (Tubeway Army), Who Watches Over Me? (Mesh), we all have our own essentials. It is no exaggeration to say Electricity more than holds its own amongst such company, and as a debut it is astonishing, on impact alone it is the best since Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell over a quarter of a century ago.

I have already read the comparisons with Dare, but Electricity is far from being a retro album. It is fresh, confident and pacy, and singer Roxy's Madonna-esque vocals gives the unashamedly electro music a truly commercial feel, which successfully pulls off the trick of not only appealing to old farts like me who were around to witness the Eighties emergence of 'vocals and synthesisers only', but also to the younger audience fed a diet of Rhianna, Sugababes, Leona Lewis and the like (I know because I've tried it out on my teenage daughters). This is largely because of John Von Ahlen's strong, well crafted and exceptionally well produced songs.

The album's highlights for me are Eastern Wall, with its Germanic theme, Electricity (even I'd dance to that!), Sharper Than A Knife, the first single due out soon, We Believe In Electric Love, which really wouldn't be out of place on Dare, and the futurescape ballad Should Not Be. A nice added touch is that each track has a personal dedication: for example, You And Me Both is not surprisingly dedicated to Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke. Others getting a name-check include Martin Rushent, Depeche Mode, John Foxx, and Gary Numan. To top it all, Electricity's beautiful packaging knocks spots of most new releases around at the moment.

If there is any justice in this world (which there isn't), Electricity would be massive (so it probably won't be).