Review for WhoMadeWho – „UUUUU“ – 2022
Artist: WhoMadeWho
Land of Origin: Denmark
Title: UUUU
Format Album
Label: Embassy One
Release Date: 27. Mai 2022
Genre: Electronica
13 Tracks • 01h 03m 03s
At qobuz available in CD Quality
16-Bit / 44.1 kHz – Stereo
At Apple Music available
in Dolby Atmos
For the German translation of
this review please >>> click here <<<
About WhoMadeWho
During the years since their inception, WhoMadeWho have established themselves as one of the most influential underground bands of their generation, well known for their exceptional sense of emotional depth, affecting melodies and deeply intriguing songwriting. The Danish group, consisting of Tomas Høffding, Tomas Barford and Jeppe Kjellberg, has impressed with their exceptional professionalism at performances around the world, from Roskilde to Sonar, from Melt! to Burning Man.
They have released seven albums so far and a variety of EPs, singles and remixes, on labels such as Kompakt, Innervisions and Life & Death. With Barford’s penchant for electronic music and Høffding and Kjellberg’s roots in rock and jazz, their music has evolved into a fascinating soundscape that fuses a variety of influences into their own distinctive musical fingerprint that is soulful, compelling and immensely mind-expanding.
The secret to WhoMadeWho’s success lies in their constant desire to turn things upside down. In recent years, the trio has dived deeper and deeper into the world of electronic music.
The trio has a long history in electronic music, releasing on labels such as Life And Death, Kompakt, and Innervisions, and performing at Ushaia Ibiza, Space Miami, Papaya Playa Tulum, Brooklyn Mirage NYC, and many other world-renowned clubs and festivals. In addition to his work with WhoMadeWho, Barfod also has a long DJ career, performing at legendary clubs such as Fabric London and Panorama Bar in Berlin, as well as releasing his own solo productions.
As a DJ and producer, he has gained widespread notoriety and respect for his technical skills and extensive knowledge. In recent years, WhoMadeWho’s connection to the club scene has been strengthened by increasingly strong work with friends such as Rampa, Frank Wiedemann and Artbat.
Watergate 26 Mix
In 2019, the band was the latest in a lineup of artists including Solomun, Ellen Allien and others to curate and mix a compilation for Berlin’s famous Watergate Label, Bar and Club.
On the Watergate 26 sampler and mix collection, WhoMadeWho placed some of their own productions alongside those of artists like Echonomist, Artbat, Chaim and many others, proving their ability and expertise to grow into the DJ mix format with their ultimate understanding of groove and emotion.
Their first release in 2020 was „Obstacles“ with several excellent remixes. Shortly after, in the summer of 2020, the band tapped into their inexhaustible source of connections within the scene to initiate a series of collaborations.
The album Synchronicity
The result was the album „Synchronicity“ and the three „Synchronicity“ EPs released on the pioneering techno label Kompakt. Interestingly, the three EPs, played in release order, leave a completely different impression than the album of the same name, although the tracks are the same and merely arranged differently.
This, in turn, shows that WhoMadeWho are among the last representatives of great album art.
The band’s focus on electronic productions is not so much an innovation as an extension of an already existing passion. Looking for like-minded people in the electronic music scene, the band brought in talented collaborators to support the project: Michael Mayer of Kompakt, Mano Le Tough, Adana Twins, Perel, Rebolledo, Axel Boman and Frank Wiedemann were among those involved in the critically acclaimed LP.
The album and EPs define WhoMadeWho as what they successfully rolling out: namely, their own unique indie style in the club music cosmos.
The Cercle video „WhoMadeWho live at Abu Simbel, Egypt for Cercle
2021 started with the single „Abu Simbel,“ named after the spectacular location of their legendary Cercle performance, which was released through Cercle’s Wing label and served as an emotionally charged opener for this March 2021 performance. A second single called „Nefertari“ followed shortly after, this time in collaboration with Patrice Bäumel.
Their magical brilliance in live performances was evident with their incredible Cercle performance in 2021, broadcast from the stunning temple of Abu Simbel in Egypt. Høffding, Barford and Kjellberg impressively demonstrated their ability to perform live during this stream, which had already garnered millions of views on YouTube and Facebook for the stream.
The Danish trio performed at the entrance of the temple, under the ancient statues of Ramses II and his family, and delivered an audiovisually stunning show. A show that is already the stuff of legends.
The new album „UUUU
And now the new album „UUUU“ is finally available since May 27, 2022. UUUU represents the seventh studio album in total since the band was founded in 2003. Full of creativity, WhoMadeWho have been jamming in the studio for the past year, developing new ideas and further modeling their very own take on electronic music.
The new album explores the infinite expanses of their unique sound universe and offers an excellent view from the „Ten Forward Lounge“ onto the impressive sound formations of the band’s own vocal electronica cosmos.
The 63-minute album convinces with a great variety of structures, downtempo tracks alternate with moments of pensive melancholy and peak-storming euphoria. The whole thing is deliciously garnished with modular, multi-layered, electronic soundscapes, finely flavored with reduced instrumentation and hypnotic vocals, the trademark of WhoMadeWho.
WhoMadeWho on „UUUU“:
„Our new album „UUUU“ is the product of three friends coming together in the studio and inspiring each other – with the help of a very special friend: Rampa. Over the past few years we have traveled all over the world and met the most amazing people. We always felt like we shared the same basic needs and dreams no matter where we went. With this album we want to give something back to all our fans and friends out there. Music 4 U. We are all connected to each other. With love. Tomas, Tomas and Jeppe“ – WhoMadeWho
This latest stylistic shift in the band’s development underlines their versatility and skill in taking on new musical challenges – all three band members positively enjoy exploring new terrain and previously unknown and never tried sound structures. So it can happen that Høffding and Kjellberg discreetly reference Pink Floyd during a studio session, while Barford quotes Carl Craig – or vice versa.
This is exactly what makes them a fascinating formation that manages to implement different musical styles with an incredibly fresh combination of a certain lack of inhibition and a lot of self-confidence. As a group, they possess a unifying charisma that is fed by their three different egos and acts as a catalyst for their creative output, which is given a further splash of color by their collaborations with other artists in the studio.
The trio uses a reductive method to create fragments of their songs, which are eventually used to build up trippy melodies embellished with narcotic vocal lines. Adapting the songwriting and production process to the challenges of the dancefloor has resulted in WhoMadeWho’s immensely hypnotic use of rhythm, melody and vocals, which is generally not easy to achieve. The addition of other musicians to their studio work has also brought a whole new dimension to their production process.
WhoMadeWho have never let themselves be stopped and are always moving forward, which makes their current exploration of electronic music called „UUUU“ infused with a mysterious energy and surrounded with positivist dancefloor vibes.
It’s the way back to their beginnings, back to improvised jam sessions where they have melted their influences to set off into a future of mesmerizing, floating, danceable sound creations. They are a band willing to work on themselves to grow, evolve creatively, and to explore the unknown quadrants of their unique musical cosmos.
With a realigned focus on dance vibes that began with an older album called „Through The Walls“, WhoMadeWho have created an amazingly layered collection of new songs with „UUUU“, now entering the next phase of their existence with their alternative stage setups at their live performances.
Full of creative energy, exciting song structures and enthusiasm, WhoMadeWho are destined to enter music history as one of the most influential and vital bands.
The Bottom Line:
With the album „UUUU“, the Danes invite with great expansive gesture to a musical journey of discovery, which fans and new acquaintances of WhoMadeWho captivate from the beginning. The new record consists of a total of 13 tracks. Among them are the previously released tracks „UUUU“, „Mermaids“, „Summer“ and „Silence & Secrets“.
„Elsewhere“, „Never Alone“, „UUUU“ and „Everday“, the last two in collaboration with Rampa, represent, so to speak, the anchor tracks of the album, which, as if from a large observation deck, provide a sweeping view of WhoMadeWho’s colorful soundscapes.
The album is available with 16 bit / 44.1 kHz in HiFi format, at Apple Music you also have the opportunity to dive into the three-dimensional world of WhoMadeWho’s sound cosmos with an excellent Dolby Atmos Mix. By the way, the Dolby Atmos mix was mastered by Hans-Philipp Graf at HP Mastering in Hamburg, Germany.
Rating for WhoMadeWho – UUUU (Album, 2022)
Summary
Max: 5 Points
Listen and be astonished:
The Album UUUU
The Album Synchronicity
The Album WaterGate 26
My Test-Equipment:
Studio 1 (High End):
- 2 x System Audio SA Mantra 50 (front)
- 1x System Audio SA Mantra 10 AV (center)
- 2x System Audio SA Legend 5 (Rear)
- 1 x System Audio Saxo 10 (Subwoofer)
- 4 x Onkyo SKH-410 (B) (Dolby Atmos)
- Auralic Altair (Audio Streaming Client mit max. 32 Bit / 384 kHz)
- NVIDIA Shield Pro mit Plex, Kodi (max 192 kHz für Audio, Tidal (MQA Streaming Client)
- AppleTV 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
- Amazon Cube 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos (restricted), HDR, Dolby Vision
- Panasonic DP-UB9004 (4K UHD Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
- Oppo UDP-203 (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
- Yamaha CX-A5100 (Preamp) 4K, Dolby Atmos, Hi-res
- Yamaha MX -A5000 (Power Amp)
- Sony KD-55A1 (TV) 4K OLED, HDR, Dolby Vision