coma: in technicolor

Following two acclaimed EPs on Kompakt and more than a year of meticulous preparation, the bar has been set high for Marius Bubat and Georg Conrad aka Coma, who present their album debut In Technicolor. You'll hear them answer all expectations with an ingeniously-composed collection of triple A tracks, constantly shifting from club to pop culture and back. Spiked with brilliant guest performances from the likes of Vimes, Roosevelt, Ada and also MIT's frontman Edi Winarni, Coma's debut full-length gives you a panoramic view over Cologne's new school revamping of the city's sonic skyline. Purveyors of fine Cologne stomp since 2007, Coma knows how to incite a crowd. They have won over fans almost immediately with their personal blend of pop-infused electronics, and have been hailed as Cologne's next big thing. With their ridiculously catchy synth riffs, album opener "Hoooooray" and follow-up "Maybach" perfectly showcase the balance between club functionality and its counterpart, a kind of pop-styled playfulness found everywhere on In Technicolor. Tracks such as "Cycle," "Maximal Minimal" and "The Great Escape" certainly owe much to the crowd's demand for epic melodies and huge build-ups, but find themselves framed by free-spirited workouts like the stoically sung "Les Dilettantes," the angular "Out of Control," or that little melancholic masterpiece just titled "#." Laying out a richly adorned network of influences, In Technicolor is also a direct result of Coma's collaborative approach: maintaining their own studio in Cologne since 2008 allowed for the multitude of cameos by like-minded artists such as Vimes, Ada, Roosevelt and MIT's Edi Winarni, which were all recorded on-site. The most impressive part? It all holds together perfectly, going back and forth between expressive songwriting and infectious grooves, readily spawning massive hits like vocoder ballad "My Orbit" or the longing "Missing Piece." With the serene wisdom of final track "T.E.D.," the album comes to a fitting end, leaving the audience with one of the most engaging album experiences to have in 2013.

Coma - My Orbit