The label must have a good reason, to release – for the first time EVER – a physical MCD (in a Cardboard sleeve) on Cold Transmission… “Empty Landscapes’ is the absolute debut for LETTEN 94, and by listening to the high quality of this release, you get the feeling that a – frankly quite 'old-fashioned' – release of an EP was more than justified! The songs of this project are just amazing and this project might indeed “travel” towards a bright future!
Zürich, 1994. Along the banks of the Limmat river, on the railway tracks of the disused Letten train station, the largest open drugs scene in Europe is in its last year. Federal Councillor Ruth Dreifuss visits the site and meets addicts who lie on the ground, injecting themselves with heroin. From the Kornhausbrücke, the view looks like a dystopian landscape.
Comprising Dolorès and Freddy Van Ballast, LETTEN 94 is a Swiss coldwave duo which takes this mental image of Letten, and more widely of Europe in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall, as a starting point to try to create electronic music which is sometimes aggressive and syncopated, sometimes dark and mysterious. The guitar, putting into relief the railway-inspired rhythms of Van Ballast, commemorates the post-punk movement, while the deep and haunting voice of Dolorès prepares listeners for the clearly nihilist tone of their creations.
Released Mid December 2021 by Cold Transmission.
Tracks Listing:
01 Empty Landscapes
02 Red Lights Soft Skins
03 Where no One goes
04 Electric Blue
English