Mercurine

With a sound reflecting strongly the vestiges of the 1980’s, the duo of Mera and Byron Brown will actually isolate fans of ’80s music, mostly due to a lack of substance behind their work. Featuring a light mix of synths, live drums, guitar and vocals, this album leaves you wanting more than they actually give. This is the group’s second album, and it is quite a short one, running at just over half an hour. They can be effectively dreary but also come across as being superficial with tracks like "Format HD” tending to drone on without direction. The disc is not without merit however, including the richly darkened "Endless Dream” and "Strangetimeslove,” where ethereal vocals and new wave influenced accompaniment come together to create an enjoyably wistful song. Actually, most tracks here are quite visual and Mercurine come across as an act that would be much more interesting live.