First impessions? I don't like the vocals, a statement that "It's like sexual Christian rock, really. But with out all the Christianity" is hardly appealing and that the artist has a guided hypnosis tape amongst his initial works is equally off-putting. Still, I stuck my neck out of my comfort zone in picking this so the least I can do is listen further.

As a result track one, 'Cool As Ice' begins to reach me, musically at least. Given the electronic nature of the work it's hard to tell if there are effects on the vocals or not. Those on third track 'Turn Me On' show an improvement, sounding less affected and the general '80s slant of the whole shebang begins to gell that bit more.

Dinner's Danish and apparently splits his time between LA, Copenhagen and Berlin so from that you'd assume he's already not doing too badly. Unfortunately the same can't be said for those vocals as they return to sounding like he's got a blockage somewhere between his nose and his throat. Guest vocalists would have benefitted this album greatly.

Which is a shame as you'd be hard pressed to find fault with the moody music herein, effortlessly echoing as it does classic Tears For Fears, coldwave bands etc. Good, but needs some work.

Psychic Lovers is available from Amazon & iTunes.

Relocating to Venice for the recording of Deeper has, it is safe to say, provided Luis Vasquez with plentiful opportunities to make the album as full-on and emotional as he'd wanted to. Whilst the resultant album is not exactly Pretty Hate Machine the likes of 'Wrong' manage to pack a heavier punch both musically and emotionally than you may have up until now credited it possible for The Soft Moon name to be associated with.

Whilst the band's self-titled debut and its follow-up Zeros tended towards their respective ends to feel repetitive in terms of ideas as well as beats Deeper, with its sparse, single word titling manages to be a collection of utterly distinct songs. A lot of which end up being fist-pumpingly life-affirming ('Desertion', 'Black', 'Far') as only the best of such works can be as negative emotions go through the cathartic wringer of expression and come out the other side with their polarity reversed. The freedom of a trouble shared being one halved.

Not that the Stranglers-like bass and other beloved elements of the Soft Moon sound have been sacrificed to some kind of Bauhaus-meets-Depeche Mode bastard disco make-over, they're all still there just with an added amount of pace & urgency amongst the layers of sound providing a propulsive edge to the bulk of the songs. The cold-wave has warmed up somewhat. In fact the album's title track is positively tropically tribal in its sound.

In a live setting there's a very good chance that these 10 songs are going to fast become the highlights of shows, dropped in to build momentum after a few of the older numbers have established the more solemn mood you'd initially expect. In going Deeper Luis Vasquez & producer Maurizio Baggio may have taken a year to come through but it's all light at the other side of this particular tunnel.

Deeper is available from amazon & iTunes.