Modernaire are tight. There aren’t many emerging bands in this genre of electro disco pop that are doing it this well. And at first glance, Modernaire may be misconstrued as pretentious in their motifs, with all their pop noir chic going on; but on further scrutiny there’s most definitely a sense of humour, along with their razor sharp wit and a tidy vocabulary.

After seeing Modernaire one rainy evening at what was described to me as the ‘asshole of Manchester’, they have been on constant rotation in my playlist. This EP named Velvet Never Dries is full of brilliantly composed electro pop; perfectly balanced in it’s juxtaposition of dirty bass/dark deep use of strings and light lady vocals, which are sexy and slinky. That said though, I hesitate to call them 'girl vocals' as they're far more mature and well rounded to be so simply labelled; despite the deceptively innocent timbre of Cruella de Mill’s voice, just take a listen to what she’s singing and it’s far from sweetness and light, the saucy minx.

Velvet Never Dries opens with Bloodshed In The Woodshed; and at this point I wondered whether they were squandering their best first. But as Rain relived my own experience of Manchester, with a tongue in cheek cry of despair/homage to the city that birthed Modernaire, before moving onto the sea shanty that is Bonnie and Reade, I was more and more impressed. Then Scalpel storms in with it’s ridiculously infectious and dirty beats, lit up by glicks and cuts with laser guns beaming. “Your love/Cuts like a scalpel/Your kiss/Sweet like Calpol/In the grip of your infection/My only hope is a quick dissection.” Like I said – saucy minx. Followed by Nosferatu with it’s undulating bass and tinny 80s toy guitar sample (that in other hands could have gone so, so wrong) alongside the swashbuckling, plundering cello solo. Stabby and pulsing September rolls into Terry, with more of that lush cello as well as gorgeous harmonies. Nothing is surplus on this EP - it has intelligence and class in (grave digging) spades.

Modernaire are as serious as a heart attack, but don’t take themselves too seriously.
Deliciously dark, a tad eerie and a little haunting if it wasn’t so damn catchy.
One of my favourite bands for the past six months and a mainstay on my playlists for whatever the occasion; from death to divorce, discos and drama all the way to delerium and a fully blown dance. Forget new rave, this is new grave (forgive me), and despite being one of Modernaire’s ongoing themes, their music is far from deathly, unless under the context of being dead good.