I got this album, How Strange, last week from Nicky Howard, a.k.a. Trim The Fat, an accomplished underground electronic musician based in Yorkshire/UK. I didn’t think that I was going to listen to it at first because there were some other albums I wanted to peep, but during my trip back and forth from home for the holidays, I decided to put it on just to see what this guy was all about. Boy am I glad I did because it is now one of my favorite albums of 2010 so far.

Some would call his sound indie-synth pop, but while there are a ton of pop elements in his tracks, the music lends itself more to the electronica realm in style and flow. From the first track to the last his sonic landscapes are layered with tons of echos, delays and reverbs that give off this really dreamy, surreal vibe. While I was listening to it, I couldn’t help but think that How Strange is a great album for this time of year. The sounds are very inspirational and moving to the point where it makes you want to get up and do something–almost like reboot of your life and the world.

You wont find many crazy dance floor tracks on the album, but there is no doubt that you will be in a blissful state while the well composed melodies tickle your ears. The guitar and piano parts he writes are really well crafted and put together in just the right way that they are not fighting against the electronic instrumentation in the mix. (check out “How Strange” with its beautiful piano and guitar melodies that invoke a New Order vibe). The vocals are smooth and sporadic to add some more depth and feeling to an already emotion induced sound.

The official release date for How Strange is May 10th, but in the meantime you can check out “How Strange” below.

enjoy!

Trim the Fat – How Strange

Track Listing
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1. Beginning of The End
2. How Strange
3. Still Time
4. The Ultimate
5. Layer By Layer
6. Don’t Go So Fast
7. Honey Trap
8. Masks