Venus Hum – The Colors in the Wheel Review


Website: Venus Hum

The Inside Pulse:
The trio of trippy electropop known as Venus Hum spills onto the scene with The Colors in the Wheel, a tasty little release of beats laden with hooks. Beautifully mixed, this offering thankfully doesn’t use and abuse cliche sounds that currently plague the land of electronica and instead focuses on a sound that’s certainly all their own. The vocals of Annette Strean range from sassy and sharp to wistful and delicate, but remain unique and distinctive.

Positives: There’s some killer catchy pop in “Yes and No,” instantly the first song that sticks in your head. “Do You Want To Fight Me” isn’t quite so instantly memorable, but the electronic sounds used and abused are addictively good. Never mind “Pink Champagne,” rounding out the earworms; nothing defines this album like glue in your head.

Negatives: Some of the songwriting isn’t so tight with songs wandering a bit, making them a bit hard to differentiate at first. This is relieved with multiple listens, but then there’s the issue of lyrics. Don’t look too hard at them or you’ll see what looks like Debbie Gibson trying to be Tori Amos.

Cross-breed: Bjork starts dating Tricky again and they head to a rave in Studio 54 regalia and dancing with Madonna during her Ray of Light years. What? Yeah.

Reason To Buy: If you like a trip-hop super-pop sound, this album is for you. And if this review makes you curious in the least, you’ll probably like it.