David Maddox-Jones and Raife Hacking may have called themselves Born Stranger, but take a listen to their debut single ‘Fire & The Flame’ and you’re transported into comfortingly familiar territory. The electronic pop duo are inspired by everyone from Pet Shop Boys and Tears For Fears to Disclosure, and in their brand of synthpop it’s easy to hear their influences.
But just because Maddox-Jones and Hacking are making something familiar though doesn’t mean they’re playing it entirely safe. There’s a definite pop sensibility and universality to ‘Fire & The Flame’ (it is about that old chestnut of growing apart from an ex after all), but also some more daring elements. It may burst into euphoric waves of anthemic synths, but the reverberating, chopped and skewed bleeps that punctuate the track give it that little bit of extra bite. You’ll be wondering why these guys were strangers until now.
‘Fire & The Flame’ is officially released on 22nd August 2016.
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