Sin.Sin – Nobody’s Heroin (Alfa Matrix)

English:CD-review
  Van Muylem    27 oktober 2017

Belgium has talented people and today we talk about a nice female fronted project with rock/metal roots but facing us with a more electronic and fragile side of her talents. Her voice sounds mostly like Silvy De Bie (Silver) and yes I have always been a fan and lover her voice! So yeah, let’s enjoy this ride together but with an honest and straight point of view …


Kristell Lowagie (also know from Lovelorn Dolls and Skeptical Minds) starts with These Pretty Things (check out the previous EP): it’s a pretty catchy / electronic track sung with an angelic voice. I adore the whispering part (sounds pretty hot). Dress Machine starts with foot stomping beats & vocals that comes close to Silvy’s. I describe it as a cool & funny track with a catchy tune that makes my 3 year old daughter dance on it. Blacklist (featuring Noemie Aurora from Helalyn Flowers) sounds despite the lyrics angelic. I like the synths and the beats. At some point it even sounds a bit like a mix between Nince Inch Nails (the industrial part), The Cranes (vocals) and The Cure (the guitars).

Silver & Gold starts like a fine / romantic ballad with a very soft sound. Halfway I can hear something that sounds like a harp and some beats. The more I listen to it the more I get that Silver touch. I am So in Love almost sounds erotic and of course o so happy: feeling like screaming it out loud. It’s simply the best track on the album. Feel the very positive vibe, feel the happiness! Wildwood is a poppy track with a dark mood and again that magical Silver touch (I know: tell me if I say it too much). Lost in Lies starts with a piano and a synth with lots of whispering parts. It can’t always be something happy and this is clearly the darker side. Happy 30 is for a lot of people a milestone and here we get a disco party and some reflections about this age, well: wait until you are 40 and come back with another story (can’t wait). Right now I’m 44, so it sounds a bit funny to me.

Mother sounds fragile and emotional. Losing a mother or a grandmother must be hard, but I hear some other things too in this song as it feels a bit like a struggle too. Towards the end it gets more eclectic and sounds like a melodic explosion. Morning Sands already made me and the people around me unhappy when I reviewed the EP and since then nothing has been improved: the chorus still sounds too loud, too high and somehow not really in tune (however it is actually in tune but sounds as such to me). It’s sad as it’s for the rest a pretty OK track (and the only I would love to erase from the album). There’s a catchy feel in it and has potential. Sunlight Bay has a great a cappella start with multi layered vocals that makes it really sound like heavenly. Marvelous! Simply a masterpiece! Towards the end instruments pop in, without disturbing the heavenly feel. As last track we hear a more country & western minded version of Moving Sands (with the help of Breath of Life) and here I really want to scream: was it needed?! The same bugging chorus has been used and thus making me again unhappy.

So yeah: a great album (minus one song). Kristell has found the right way to express herself in another way as what she did in the past. I’m really happy with the gigantic steps she made and please forgive for my hard words about Moving Sands but I really feel it was done the wrong way (it was also the only time where people around me asked me to shut it up or use my headphones). I can also point out that Max (Helalyn Flowers) did a great job in the studio. So yeah: keep up the great work!