TRACI LORDS: 1,000 FIRES

SCORE: 98/100

 "I think that fire is something that's really representative of the record. It's really, really peaceful and you're drawn to it. But if you get too close, it can torch you and kill you. But if you just get close enough, it's warm and it's soothing, it's mesmerising and it's peaceful. It can give you everything or destroy you, depending on how smart you are."

It's an unexpectedly bright underground techno essential - with the production being more up to par than some projects by the biggest names in electronic music, Lords' debut (and only) studio album is a triumph for the entirety of the techno genre. With trippy soundscapes and production that will make your head spin in circles, '1,000 Fires' is an absolute must for any techno fans looking for something that really stands out.

The album mixes and matches with more sounds than just techno, with elements of ambient and trance coming through on 'Fallen Angel' and experimentation taking place on each and every track, '1,000 Fires' deals with both deep emotions and dance grooves all at the same time, with it coming together to be one of the best and most underrated electronic albums you'll stumble across.

"I got into techno in 1992 when I was working as a model in London. I didn't have much money and I was living with three other girls in this shitty flat above a coffee shop—which was totally depressing—so we used to go to the clubs to escape from it all and that's where I fell in love with the music. I really wanted that influence to come across on my album so when I eventually signed with Radioactive that's what we did."

An album this varied in sounds, styles, and moods/atmospheres feels deserving of a track-by-track review, especially considering how I have not done a review of this nature in quite a while (which I want to do more of, but projects haven't really jumped at me lately...).

The only real issue with the album comes with Lords' vocals from time to time, but there are very few albums that manage to jump around this much in production and atmosphere while still keeping a deeply rooted consistency and gorgeous pace to the album in its entirety.

It's an album of many sides, and it manages to be more complex and personal than one might think it would be upon first glance. '1,000 Fires' manages to be an absolute must in the techno genre despite its underground and slightly unknown origins, and it's well worth a listen for anyone who hasn't heard it before.

CONTROL:

A wildly dark and heated track, 'Control' sets the basis for the album and works as Lords' most well known and acclaimed track - making it an essential in the techno scene; unfortunately leaving the rest of the album to fall behind for many people. There are plenty of hidden gems within the album that have been in my rotation lately, but 'Control' manages to be one of my all-time favorite techno tracks.

It's a rapid track, creating a dark and hot atmosphere that feels like the grittiness of the techno scene in the prime of the era that the album came out in. It successfully takes the trends of the genre that were the hottest in the 90s and expands upon them in a way that is unique and hugely fierce, with an opening track that makes you want to break a sweat dancing in a darkly lit club, 'Control' just radiates the energy of strobe lights and red effects.

Lords' vocal work on the track is sultry and suits the track very well, opening up the album in a way that showcases her musical style and knowledge for the genre; paying homage to the techno scene while creating a project that is uniquely hers - showcasing that women can dominate the electronic scene just as well as men can.

FALLEN ANGEL:

A more melodic and emotional track, 'Fallen Angel' has some weaker vocals alongside an incredibly well done set of soundscapes - with rapid Spanish guitar strums and influences from both ambient and trance music, 'Fallen Angel' is a thematically dark song that is slightly inspired by the passing of Nirvana vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain.

Lords' took excerpts from her childhood diary entries that she had been writing since the age of nine, using some of the words she had written when she was young in the lyrical content of the track that comes and goes alongside deeply textural and layered grooves - it's just as eccentric and rapid as 'Control', but it takes a more emotional turn and edge. 

"I looked back at the journals that I'd written when I was about ten, and the words that I found were the same words that I used in the song, words that I wrote when I was just a child,"

GOOD-N-EVIL:

A dark track that contains more of the industrial techno elements of 'Control', 'Good-N-Evil' is a track that sounds like it would work perfectly in a movie with a similar atmosphere to 'Blade' (which Lords' starred in). It has the right elements, but they clash from time to time in a way that makes it a somewhat weaker track when compared to some of the songs that shine a bit brighter within and outside of the album.

What makes '1,000 Fires' work exceptionally well is the usage of different soundscapes and atmospheres as well as the blending and mashing of different electronic subgenres - it leads to an album where the songs work both inside and out of the album, with 'Good-N-Evil' being a great example of a track that would work just as well on different territory.

It's a deeply video game-esque track, with rumbling drums and unique elements that shake the track and give it a rejuvinated and interesting feeling - with an almost threating and tribal atmosphere that mixes in nature-esque sounds and layered production to give it a fresh and interesting sound that doesn't let up. 

FLY:

A wonky and captivating track at its core 'Fly' is one of the most enchanting tracks on the entirety of the album, with Lords' vocals coming through and reverberating in the same nature as 'Control' while adding a new and atmospheric edge to the album. It has a softer and less intense sound than some of the other tracks on the album, making it an instant standout (like almost every track manages to be) while reinventing the sound of the album at its near-halfway mark.

Lords' shows her capabilities to fit onto tracks of all kinds - and despite some lackluster vocal performances at points, she manages to keep her hold on the album firm and deliver catchy and enchanting vocal runs that loop and whiz past you at the most full moments of the album. 

DISTANT LAND:

'Distant Land' takes its time to build and create ambience with plucky instruments and gorgeous pianos that fade into a mystic and stunning melody. It's easily the softest track up to this point, and it creates a drastic shift in mood that keeps the variety of the album very high.

It's a less interesting track structurally when compared to the rest of the album, but it creates a nice atmosphere that provides a shift in sound that keeps the album highly interesting. Lords' fearless approach to experimentation and doing everything at once throughout the album makes it a wildly entertaining trip of an album - and it'll keep you for the whole ride.

OUTLAW LOVER:

One of the most dance-heavy tracks on the album that takes influence from Eurodance to create an instantly captivating and welcoming track 'Outlaw Lover' does it all in one go and creates a track that encapsulates everything that '1,000 Fires' is. It's one of the shorter songs of the album that keeps the energy going and once again swaps the pace to something new and even more exciting than the track that came before it.

'Outlaw Lover' is an easy standout from the album, with the track being instantaneously fun and wickedly enjoyable, Lords' vocal performances are exceptionally up to par, and the overall sound of the track is a jumble of sounds that come together even better than they realistically should.

It's one of the more playful tracks of the album, making it one of the most worthwhile of the entire album and keeping the high-energy and young spirit of the album at its core in tact and strongly weaved together. 

I WANT YOU:

A dark and hard-hitting track that manages to be sultry and seductive while having dark and murky synths that boom in and out constantly throughout the track, Lords' creates a sexy and darkly lit atmosphere with the appropriately titled 'I Want You'. It's easily one of the most atmospheric tracks of the album - and it shows the dark rave sound and style that Lords was going through while composing the album and the ideas behind it.

It's a captivating track that doesn't let you go once it begins - with the six minutes going by faster than expected and the track running through with various grooves and sounds that switch and carry each other until the finish of the song. It's a deeply textural track that mixes and matches with some of the other and more obscure elements within the album, making use of various instruments and soundscapes to create a striking track.

SAY SOMETHING:

Continuing the incredible track run that started with 'Outlaw Lover', Lords' creates another sultry atmosphere on 'Say Something'. Backed by a dark and gritty electronic soundscape that contains various elements sonically - 'Say Something' has a striking texture that sets it apart from the other tracks on the album.

'Say Something' is a deeply trippy and gorgeous track that makes use of many sounds found throughout the album thus far to turn these sounds and moments into something bigger - making for one of the most unique and instantaneously captivating tracks on the album.

FATHER'S FIELD:

Undoubtedly the darkest track on the album, 'Father's Field' goes in-depth lyrically about a deeply unsettling and traumatic experience that Lords' went through in her childhood years. It creates a drastic shift that is the near-closer for the album followed by the upbeat and fun 'Okey Dokey', and it creates a deep contrast when compared to the rest of the album.

It's a deeply unsettling turn for the album - showing a darker side of Lords' life in the form of a story put into song. It's a more spoken track than the rest, with the sound being incredibly different from the rest of the tracks within the album while keeping a general sense of cohesiveness still very much in tact.

'Father's Field' almost feels like a once and never again track due to its disturbing nature, it's distressing to hear and know about the backstory behind it - and the message is strikingly clear.

OKEY DOKEY:

The wickedly fun, exciting, and somewhat sarcastic 'Okey Dokey' is a wonderful closer for an album full of consistency and genuine passion for the music that was being made. It's a track that thumps and rumbles while showcasing delightful synths of all kinds throughout, and it's an incredible closer to an album that you'll want to start right back over from the start. 

Lords' matched the energy from the opening of the album to close it on a wonderfully high note, making 'Okey Dokey' one of the standout highlights from the album as a whole and showcasing just how versatile the sound palate of the album truly is. It's a wild ride from start to finish - and it's one you simply cannot miss.