Future Entertainment

That’s right, Alex Ridha aka Boys Noize is back. Nice is over.

Boys Noize, simply on the name alone makes you feel slightly scared, combine that with the album title ‘Power’ and you just know this isn’t going to be background music. In fact what you’ll find is one of the most anticipated dancefloor albums of the year, all thriller, no filler – this is the latest work of one of the brightest talents in electronic music today. Alongside peers Erol Alkan and Justice, Ridha is part of a new mongrel breed of techno artist with a maverick bent and solid vision, beaming a myriad of influences from the past through a prism to create something fresh, new and exciting enough to send his audience loopy. So much so that the likes of Black Eyed Peas, Kelis and Gonzales have all coming knocking in Alex’s door recently, desperate for an injection of Noize in their own music…

His second album ‘Power’, released in October 2009, shows how far Ridha has come as a producer since “Oi Oi Oi” Though his signature sound is still present the approach is more experimental, versatile and the pace slower so the intricacies of his production shines through. This is a new kind of techno that encompasses elements of both rave and minimal but also the kind of inspired beats that would make hip hop producers drool. Though often steely edged and sometimes sinister it’s also often melodic and playful. Fans of his debut will enjoy the pummeling beats, clanging loops and lairyness of ‘Starter’, ‘Drummer’ and ‘Nott’ (with its insistent refrain of I am not techno!). ‘Nerve’ adopts a more minimal approach, with raindrops amongst the beats and a shard of miasmic noise riding across the clipped rhythm. ‘Kontakt Me’ adopts a slightly different approach with a more spartan arrangement and a robotic voice – the only kind of vocal used on ‘POWER’ – intoning ‘come with me, do you remember?’ ‘Trooper’ is one of the album’s cornerstones, a really unsettling, original track with military style drums and an otherworldly vocal. ‘Jeffer’ is sprightly and poppy with what sounds like R2D2 caught up in the action and ‘Gax’ and ‘Sweet Light’ share melodic interludes amongst the noise theatrics. Nearing the album’s end ‘Rozz Box’ and ‘Heart Attack’ show Ridha’s more experimental, introspective side.

‘Power’ is precision tooled techno from an artist at the top of his game.

Plug in and get switched on!