Romeo Drive

Description

Romeo Drive is an album by the American singer and songwriter Kevin Max of dc Talk fame, independently released on Blind Thief Recordings in November 2018.

Kevin Max gifted us with two albums this year, both of them outside the realm of anything he’s done before. The first of them, AWOL, is a rich and textured ‘80s alternative album that features some of the best songs he’s ever written. Max refers to his second album of 2018 as a side project, but it’s hard for me to consider it as such. Romeo Drive is a natural evolution from AWOL, taking the plunge into full synthwave. It’s a conceptual piece that brings Blade Runner to mind more than once, particularly on the opening spoken word piece «2079». This record pulses and throbs with vintage synthesizer sounds, and once again, Max’s voice sounds great in this context. I’m a big fan of «Arms of Orion» and «Pretend to Dance», with its eerie oscillating keyboard sounds. This is a full-bore dive into a style Max has never tried before, and he tops it off with great covers of Joy Division’s «Love Will Tear Us Apart» and, strikingly, the 77s’ «Ba Ba Ba Ba». [Andre Salles, Tuesday Morning 3 a.m., October 30, 2018]

Kevin, that idiosyncratic singer/songwriter who, since his dc Talk days, has forged for himself a sizeable fan base for his numerous and extremely eclectic albums. Amongst his various tastes in music, Max has a well-known love of ’80s electronic pop and he has certainly indulged his passion here. ‘Romeo Drive’ was recorded in collaboration with synth wizard Service Unicorn and this concept album is an expansion of a previous three-track EP, ‘Same Wavelength’. The story follows a cybernetic entity, Romeo Drive, that is trying to understand humans and God. The styles cover a lot of musical ground, from the spoken poetry opener «2079» – very reminiscent of the introduction to «Tron Legacy» – through covers of Tubeway Army’s «Are Friends Electric» and Joy Division’s «Love Will Tear Us Apart» before heading back to spoken word over a heavy synth riff in «The Unicorn». The analogue synth style sounds are a bit harder than the ’80s originals they are based on and with many more layers and vocal effects making it more palatable to modern ears. As would be expected from Kevin, the lyrics are very poetic and often weaving complex ideas together in ways that require several listens to even start to understand what they are getting at. The album is well along the quirky spectrum and there is certainly no other Christian release sounding anything like this, and probably not many secular albums either since the end of the ’80s – even the cover songs take a while to be recognised for what they are musically. This is a must for anyone who likes the ’80s, or wants a change to the standard CCM fair, but it will require a few plays to really reveal its full potential. [Tim Holden, Cross Rhythms, December 2019]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/romeo-drive/1579742350)

CD tracklist:

01. 2079 – 4:55
02. R U a Spirit? – 2:53
03. Arms of Orion – 3:40
04. Are Friends Electric? – 5:57
05. Pretend to Dance (I’m Not a Mannequin) – 5:12
06. Romeo Drive – 3:16
07. The Unicorn – 4:48
08. Love Will Tear Us Apart – 3:20
09. The Listener – 3:26
Bonus Track (Downolad-Only):
10. Ba Ba Ba Ba – 4:41

Note: Released on both CD and 12-inch vinyl LP. The cover of The 77’s classic “Ba Ba Ba Ba” is a Kevin Max website exclusive downolad-only track.

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