MADRUGADA - The Deep End

Madrugada have always had impeccable taste, gifting us with striking artwork that perfectly conveys the dark, existentialist imagery the band has built around its music. This time round the Norwegians don't disappoint on that front either, but a note — or rather a criticism — needs to be made about what matters most to us: the songs.

After their first two excellent records, “Industrial Silence” and “The Nightly Disease”, which channelled a neo-dark/romantic spleen haunted by the ghosts of Velvet Underground, Cure and Doors, the band has lost its way. It's not that we ever expected Madrugada to push the sound forward or experiment, but we did expect solid songwriting. This time, though, Sivert and co. seem to have scraped the bottom of the barrel, and aside from the first two tracks, we can't find a single moment here that justifies picking up the CD.

Produced by George Drakoulias, “The Deep End” lacks bite, settling for a handful of unfocused ballads that echo other famous bands' ballads, let's say, and which owe more than a little to Madrugada's own past songs. A kind of reheated soup, which becomes downright indigestible when you consider you'd have to shell out twenty quid or so to taste it.

So for one “The Kids Are On High Street” — a great track, this one, which confirms Sivert's talent for voicing the darkness of the human soul — we then have to sit through the likes of “Hold On To You” and “Ramona”, epitomes of mainstream mediocrity.

No, this won't do. Anyone unfamiliar with Madrugada who's curious about them should rush to track down the first two records; as for the rest, better give it a miss.

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30/04/2026