Cafeïne – New Love (2013)

Reviewed by Agah Bahari

I was asked to review the album New Love by Cafeïne, who I’ve never heard of before. Taking the situation as an advantage, this was a good opportunity to listen to some new music with fresh ears and perspective, with no prior judgement nor expectation.

Cafeïne’s all-high-energy 10 songs new album, New Love, is a fine attempt to mix Punk roots and Pop melodies, accompanied by heavily processed, Industrial vocal lines, which I thought was suitable to the style of the music, as well as the production. The combination of deep, strong Industrial Punkish synth bass, with the kind of groovy drums that’s been responsible for making the audience jumping up and down, every single time that it’s been played since the beginning of the 80’s, is a guarantee for a fun, interactive live shows.

The standard nature of the structure, arrangement and the length of all the songs in New Love, although radio friendly enough to trigger the attention of the mainstream music fans, is just another addition to the avalanche of the commercial products in the entertainment industry, which by itself can work as a double-edged sword for the artist, as well as the label, Indica Records. Also, even though the unfortunate lack of dynamic mixing and mastering, which sadly has become the industry standard, will make the music to be played as loud as the rest of the songs on the radio, it makes it quite a challenge for a serious music listener with healthy hearing to go through the album, from the start to the end. Having said that, it’s no mystery that we’re living in the world of Singles, where sacrifices are required to be made in order to be heard.

Overall, with the mixture of English and French lyrics, as well as the musical and production approach, Cafeïne’s New Love has a lot of potential to reach the fans of the genre across North America, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it on the Top 40 chart.