Universal Energy: A Quick Review Of Shadow Of Fear, The First New Cabaret Voltaire Album In 26 Years

I must admit that the idea of a new Cabaret Voltaire album was not one that I ever considered. In fact, I was highly skeptical when I heard that the band (essentially only founder Richard H. Kirk now) was prepping their first new record in 26 years. My fears were baseless as, frankly, Shadow of Fear, out today via Mute Records, is an invigorating release, one which signals that the sound of the Cabs, regardless of who's driving, remains a delightfully unsettling one.

Opener "Be Free" is full of noise and static, the sort of thing that sounds like Cabaret Voltaire from the early Eighties, and I love that I can say that in a review. And if lots here on Shadow of Fear stokes a similar vibe, some of this, like the futuristic funk of "Night of the Jackal", nods in the direction of the Cabs' mid-Eighties output, when things got momentarily more accessible. The precise "Microscopic Flesh Fragment" pops and throbs with bad intent, the sampled vocals creating a sense of paranoia and unease. It's a wicked groove, and one which feels perfectly in-line with 2020, and the whole isolating-during-a-plague-situation right now. Elsewhere, "Universal Energy", an epic-length banger here, works up a head of steam over synths and beats, while closer "What's Goin' On" uses sleek keyboard lines to anchor a percussive hook that seems to be pushing towards a listener.

Shadow of Fear succeeds in large part because I don't think anyone was expecting it. There might be portions here that feel overly familiar for those of us who know the band's back-catalog, but at the very least Richard H. Kirk is pushing things in interesting directions in this century, even as he runs the risk at moments of retracing earlier steps. A listener feels prodded and poked by the hooks here, and in that sense that signals that this is a successful Cabaret Voltaire release. The sound of this band has always had the power to do that, and even 40 years ago, their entire approach was one which melded industrial forms with electronic ones, and the resulting sound then and now is one which still provokes.

Shadow of Fear is out today via Mute.

More details on Cabaret Voltaire via the official Facebook page.

[Photo: Mute Records]