In the end of the nineties emerged electroclash, a style that came out of electronic dance and was influenced by the artistic pretensions of the electronic new-romantic bands of the end of the seventies. But the new-romantics belonged to the rock world, where the electric guitar was the sound of the human spirit, and their use of synthesizers expressed emotional coldness, alienation and loss of humanity. Electroclash, on the other hand, arrived way after electronic music became the voice of the human spirit, and for youngsters today the old new-romantic records sound different than they did at the time – now they sound like the roots on today's spirituality. It was therefore logical to go back to the style and carry on in a new direction, using today's perspective. Furthermore, electronic dance reached a point where it was time to take a step back, and instead of records that would make you dance yourself to oblivion, make pieces of self-reflection. Electroclash was therefore of its time, and I saw it as an interesting and meaningful development.
But I didn't hear any truly interesting statement coming out of it. Perhaps I missed it, but everything I encountered sounded arty-farty and devoid of true substance. Electroclash made a lot of noise among the critics, but didn't really capture the wider audience. Looking back, its main significance now looks to be that it was one of the steps towards today's electro. This is one of the only electroclash records that had any real power.
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