IN STRICT CONFIDENCE - Holy

In Strict Confidence was always more than just magnificent melodies, poetic lyrics and necro-christian iconography.Their dedication and amazing minuswelt musikfabrik creative output earned them not only large fan base, but also respect from peers and critics alike. Their music really sounds true although redefined and reshaped with every new album. “Holy” is no exception.

Yes, it is always hard to repeat magnificence.” Mistrust The Angels” is clearly one of the best albums of this century (so far). New release is different, with more hits. No reading between the lines here, I am not talking about commercialisation (although ‘Seven Lives’ might go as Project Pitchfork track) and other nonsense that successful electro bands get accused of. I just say that “Holy” is closer to wider audience than any other ISC album. Why? Because of ‘Sleepless’, ‘Closing Eyes’ and ‘Emergency’: while preserving a healthy dose of darkness, melodies are pushed to the forefront, not the ambience. Heavenly vocals of Nadine Stelzer and Chandeen’s Antje Schulz are not used to ice your brain, but to give strength to the songs. Lyrics are written by them as well, together with Inga Göttsch’s on ‘Seven Lives’ and ‘Another Night’, rendering this album a combined effort with multiple influences. That fact makes “Holy” different in sensibility and nature from previous ISC creations. Also, somehow this new ‘in your face gothicity’ did not strike me as well as previous romantic/mystic German lyrics with ghostly beginnings of each song. I prefer the old over the new to be frank, but I am known as being conservative and inert. One fact that might be on my side in this case is that ‘Sleepless’ could be featuring Dido for all it’s flirting with sweet mainstream electronica.

Yet, I must grade it as HYSTERICAL, so many hits cannot be ignored. Not comparing to current output and arguable quality of other recent releases, but only accounting to other In Strict Confidence episodes. Paradox, isn’t it? “Holy” has more catchy tunes, but “Love Kills!” and especially “Mistrust The Angels” are better.