Thomas Azier - "Hylas"

Of all the nearly-forgotten about sounds to be seeing a renaissance lately, electro-pop was admittedly not on my radar. Last week's release of La+ch and Dustbuster's "Hunter" caught my attention, and now this week we have a heatrock of an industrial-tinged pop tune called "Hylas" from Dutch-German producer Thomas Azier, whose freshman LP release (also called Hylas) drops March 10 via Hylas Records.

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Complex Original

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Of all the nearly-forgotten about sounds to be seeing a renaissance lately, electro-pop was admittedly not on my radar. Last week's release of La+ch and Dustbuster's "Hunter" caught my attention, and now this week we have a heatrock of an industrial-tinged pop tune called "Hylas" from Dutch-German producer Thomas Azier, whose freshman LP release (also called Hylas) drops March 10 via Hylas Records.

Whatever creativity was spared from naming his single, album, and record imprint must have been poured into this tune, because it's an unassuming banger. Combining an industrial vibe loosely reminiscent of New Order and well-thought out pop lyricism, "Hylas" has a sound that is at once chart-friendly but also full of creative energy. It's nothing that'll change your whole world, but it's a big step in redeeming a style of music that largely connotes a certain cheesiness we'd rather forget. If nothing else, it's a solid debut effort from Azier and a clear blip on our radar that has definitely been noticed.

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