The latest release from Ender Bender – the solo project of composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Eddie Olguin – is appropriately named, and makes a change in trajectory for the Rome-based artist.
It’s not the first substantial shift in Olguin’s career, having ditched a hectic rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle on the road while based in LA in favour of a studio-based artist – which has worked in his favour given the way things have gone in the last 18 months.
He was pretty quick off the mark with the release of the ‘EQ’ EP in May of last year, and ‘New Era’ follows on from that in its retro electro feel, but also introduces the influence of Eddie’s ‘new obsession with the emerging retrowave/chillwave movement’.
‘Have a Good Time’ opens the EP in a particularly buoyant style, with a slightly clipped-sounding vocal sitting amidst a bouncy beat and jaunty synth bass, and this is clearly the all-out stab for the big pop tune, because hereafter it’s altogether less flamboyant and all the better for it.
White it’s pitched as being for fans of the likes of Human League, Gary Numan, it strikes a rather odd mix of A Flock of Seagulls performed in the style of 90s electro disco pop with some full-on rock guitar solos. Instrumental ‘Reconnect’ is very much 80s Depeche Mode, but with the dance sensibility of early Pet Shop Boys, and it’s nicely done, and while the easy-on-the ear pop sounds and evocations of revolution and positivity may be a matter of taste, there’s no faulting the production, which recreates that vintage vibe. ‘Talk to Me’ even breaks out some smooth sax tones, and the whole thing is pretty laid back and nicely done.
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