Instead is the first album from Onetwo, who are Paul Humphreys and Claudia Brucken. Brucken is ex-Propaganda, and Humphreys ex-OMD, so they both have a bit of a pedigree behind them.
The whole album has a very lush and polished finish to it - whatever Humphreys has been up to since he left OMD, he has honed his engineering skills brilliantly - he is credited with the engineering on the album, with the mixing by Bob Krushaar.
The album begins with a short intro, 'The Theory of Everything part1', which then leads into part 2. Although part 1 is short, part 2 is a bit of a surprise as part 1 has a dark feel to it, which is nowhere to be found on part 2. Part 2 wouldn't be out of place on Radio 2.
The first great track is track 3, 'Sequential', which has a great mood and a good guitar hook for the main melody. 'Signals' is a fine example of lush Electronica, which precedes one of the stronger tracks on the album, a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Have a Cigar'. In places this sounds as if Trevor Horn has produced it, but it is a good example of how strong Claudia Brucken's vocals can be. This leads straight into 'I Don't Blame You', which is the only track to feature Humpreys on lead vocals. This is a slower track and is a fine contrast to 'Have a Cigar'.
The lead single from the album, 'Cloud Nine' comes up next, which features Martin Gore of Depeche Mode on Guitar, who also co-wrote it. Although not the strongest track on the album, it is a fine showcase, and is a good example of how the album sounds overall. 'Kein Anschlub' is a classic piece of German Electronic music, with Brucken singing in German.
Overall, the album is more 'Propaganda' than 'OMD', and as mentioned previously, it sounds fantastic. A good album, infinitely better than most of the dross on the radio, it's just a shame it is unlikely to get the recognition it deserves.
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