Olga Bell - Tempo

What is it about Olga Bell’s fascination with memories and time? Her solo debut, ‘Krai’, was a journey back to her Russian past, blending sounds of regional folklore and avant garde electronica. The new record, ‘Tempo’, is another time-travelling adventure that plays like a sequel, continuing Bell’s rediscovery of her own real and imagined past. This time the memories invoked are closer to her new American home.

The opening track ‘Power User’ is a surrealist painting in sound, a dream sequence chasing a memory of a club night. On ‘Doppio’ her velvety sensual voice leads a playful army of electronic noises, occasionally dipping into the digital sonic blender and acquiring a more synthetic tone. The lead single ‘Randomness’ is a study in house music reflected through a distant memory of a long-lost moment in time.

Flickering and darting across a vast sonic plane, the album is a worthwhile expedition and an interesting re-imagining of the past propelled into the future. A complex artist in the vein of Björk, Bell is developing her own formula of clever thrilling pop, working at her own speed towards a point where future meets the past.