Monument

by Molchat Doma

Overview

Belarusian cold wave trio Molchat Doma had a breakthrough year in 2020, as their first two albums were reissued by Sacred Bones and their song "Sudno (Boris Ryzhy)" became a surprise hit through the power of social media. They were set to make their North American touring debut when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing them to stay in Minsk, their hometown, and finish working on their third album. Just as second album Etazhi was a step up from the band's murky debut S Krysh Nashikh Domov, in terms of both recording fidelity and songwriting, Monument sounds much brighter and more polished, and contains some of their most hook-filled songs to date. It's also more overtly danceable than their earlier records. Etazhi flirted with dark new wave funk and contained a song about dancing to escape one's troubles, and the best tracks on Monument go further in this vein. The album opens with "Utonut'," a dramatic disco tune that almost sounds like the band's attempt at making Latin freestyle, complete with orchestra stabs, busy drum programming, and glittery yet aching synth melodies. The nearly Hi-NRG "Discoteque" is about dancing rapturously and not caring about what happens later. After a vibrant instrumental bridge with a trace of vocoder, the track ascends to a higher level during the final chorus. A more spiffed-up version of their 2019 single "Zvezdy" appears, upgrading from rough, demo-like sound quality to clearer, less reverb-saturated production, and with a more emotive performance by lead vocalist Egor Shkutko. The late-night sophistication of "Ne Smeshno" (with its bitter, nearly howled chorus) and "Leningradskiy Blues" (containing the album's most haunting guitar lines) leans a bit closer to David Sylvian's group Japan. As with the band's other albums, Shkutko's poetic Russian lyrics describe disenchantment and profound emptiness, and the music brilliantly illustrates this despondency in a spirited, even assuring way. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	11/13/2020
Label:	Sacred Bones
UPC:	0843563144268
Rank:	56618

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Molchat Doma   Primary Artist
Roman Komogortsev   Guitar,Synthesizer,Drum Machine
Pavel Kozlov   Synthesizer,Guitar (Bass)
Egor Shkutko   Vocals

Technical Credits

Roman Komogortsev   Mixing,Arranger,Engineer,Mastering
Molchat Doma   Cover Art Concept
Andrey Yakovlev   Cover Design