Sen Lotus are an Austrian three piece who site British, rather than American, guitar music as their main influence and , quite frankly, this couldn’t be any more obvious; single ‘Focus’ hits you in the face with a slab of British post-punk New wave. ‘Focus’ opens with a jangly acoustic guitar that sets up the basic melody, layered over this is a simple, echoey electric guitar riff that serves as the hook, and attracts your attention. However, it is the synth that underpins this track, serving as the foundation to which every other instrument builds around it, that really exposes the New Wave influences and teamed with the almost flat and emotionless vocal style the track evokes bands such as Depeche Mode or Pet Shop Boys.
Like their predecessors, Sen Lotus use the synth to set the tone and mood for the single. The synth line switches from intricate and jaunty to acting as an omnipresent euphoric backdrop, climbing higher and higher to add to it an epic quality. However, the monotonous and strong guitar driven breakdown prevents the track from being a new romantic rehash and places ‘Focus’ firmly within the present day sphere of indie-alternative music.
It is hard to say if this is the definitive sound of Sen Lotus as you cannot make assumptions based only on one song, however if you like indie-synth guitar music that strongly evokes British post punk New Wave then go and grab their albums;
http://www.senlotus.net/cds.html
Gina Kershaw
Like their predecessors, Sen Lotus use the synth to set the tone and mood for the single. The synth line switches from intricate and jaunty to acting as an omnipresent euphoric backdrop, climbing higher and higher to add to it an epic quality. However, the monotonous and strong guitar driven breakdown prevents the track from being a new romantic rehash and places ‘Focus’ firmly within the present day sphere of indie-alternative music.
It is hard to say if this is the definitive sound of Sen Lotus as you cannot make assumptions based only on one song, however if you like indie-synth guitar music that strongly evokes British post punk New Wave then go and grab their albums;
http://www.senlotus.net/cds.html
Gina Kershaw