Edward Ka-spel is one of those genius that live forgotten by the media and the people in general but still he keeps working and delighting the ears of those who are lucky to listen to his music. Either with his band The Legendary Pink Dots, with The Tear Garden or in his solo albums, Edward Ka-spels is attached to his formula which never runs out of ideas (he has released around 50 albums with all his projects, and (incredibly) they are still as good as the first ones): ambiguous brillaint lyrics, maliciously childlike voice, subtle electronics, electronic psychedelia, etc.
Red Letters is his solo album recorded in 2000 in, I think, a hotel. If you're acquainted with that great unknown band which is The Legendary Pink Dots, you'll find here an album which is more electronic. Ka-spel doesn't use that plethora of instruments the LPD display in their albums, but he focuses more on electronic manipulations. But his style is more or less the same.
The album begins with 'Radio 6', which is a delicious electronic ballad, with clear voice, good chorus, electronics which are experimental and relaxing at the same time. 'Seeing red' is the catchiest song here, it is simply perfect. It's a pop song, but in Ka-spel standards, that is: you won't find silly choruses repeated ad nauseam, but intelligent lyrics, amazing melody. 'Believe on a Breeze' is a precious mid-tempo song, similar to 'New Tomorrow' by The Legendary Pink Dots. Less electronic and more orchestral, if you know what I mean. The second instrumental part is an electronic delirium. Then comes 'Red Rock', which makes you ask yourself: how can a song be experimental and at the same time so relaxing? Ka-spel achieves a very difficult thing: he uses a lot of electronic effects but he manages to sound spacy, relaxing, but disturbing a the same time. 'Illumina 3' is a wonderful song, like a sweet lullaby that turns into a nightmarish electronic madness in the chorus. When you listen to it you'll understand me. 'The Carrier' is creepy. Do you know Skinny Puppy? Then you can imagine how this song sounds like. Not in vain, Ka-spel and Cevin Key from Skinny Puppy are long-time friends and they play together in The Tear Garden band. Lots of vocal effects, scary electronics, never as cacophonic as Skinny Puppy but similar.
'Groovy' is an instrumental song, nothing spectacular but decent anyway. Then comes' Child King', the song from which the titles of the 2 new Legendary Pink Dots albums come from. This song is very good, strange to describe. Electronic as all of them in this album. 'Swamp thing' is a sort of electronic soul song, catchy and LegendaryPinkDotseque.
All in all, this is a delicious album. Ka-spel manages to sound both relaxing and disturbing, beautiful and cacophonic. This work is an oximoron of an album, and it's simply great.

Recommended: Yes