Feathers (No 1,440)

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Hometown: Austin, Texas.

The lineup: Anastasia Dimou (vocals, guitar), Courtney Voss (bass), Kathleen Carmichael (keyboards), Jordan Johns (drums).

The background: All-girl synth-pop band Feathers sound like the Human League if Joanne and Susan Ann were in charge (which okay, they sort of were). During a recent interview, the four-piece listed their influences, which included everything from from images from The Fifth Element and Bladerunner to an exploration of the Concept of Heaven and a documentary on How the Universe Works. Oh, and some footage of Depeche Mode. What this tells us is that we should expect a band whose science-fictional vision is represented in sound and lyrics.

You can hear for yourselves on their debut album, If All Now Here. It has been mixed by Steven DePalo, who has worked with Cold Cave - progenitors of glacial synthwave from America, even though as we know this is music forged in Dusseldorf and developed in Sheffield, Manchester, Basildon, Liverpool and Leeds. Two of the tracks were produced by Brian Foote, who has worked with Zola Jesus, which explains the hint of darkness. "I have always had a hard time reconciling the two worlds of music I love," explains front-Feather Anastasia Dimou. "Growing up I was in love with NIN and PJ Harvey, but also lots and lots of George Michael and plenty of 'guilty pleasures'. [The album] may be too poppy for some, and too dark for others. I will always love a good chorus, that is certain."

Land of the Innocent, the debut single, neatly expresses Feathers' desire to combine a dystopian future-world aesthetic with a pop sensibility and rhythms tough enough to pass muster in the realm of the industrial. The beat to Soft is hard, recalling Arthur Baker's one for New Order's Confusion, with a melody redolent of Depeche Mode's Everything Counts. The vocal is cool, exhibiting a veneer of emotional distance that suggests a numbing-down following a torrid past. Dark Matter could be Madonna fronting Nitzer Ebb. Fire in the Night moves at a Personal Jesus pace and, with its juddering bass and percussive intricacy, makes you wonder why there hasn't been such an all-female group before. Whether or not there's a Don't You Want Me here, a global hit, we're not sure. Nor are we any closer either to an understanding of Heaven or the workings of the universe. Good tunes, though.

The buzz: "A blend of pulsing beats and synthpop inspired by the likes of Fad Gadget."

The truth: Imagine a cyborg Bangles.    

Most likely to: Get the balance right.     

Least likely to: Leave in silence.     

What to buy: Debut single Land of the Innocent is released on March 4, followed by the album If All Now Here on April 15.
 
File next to: Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Child Actress, Fad Gadget.

Links: www.feathers.fm

Tuesday's new band: Youth Lagoon.