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'MMXX' Review: Olé Koretsky's debut EP is brilliantly dark and a perfect potion for the isolated souls

Released on July 10, the new EP consists of five tracks and features collaborations including Russian-born psychedelic R&B soul singer TinaKristina
UPDATED JUL 10, 2020
(Press handout)
(Press handout)

Producer and DJ Olé Koretsky, who is entering the musical arena as Koretsky, has released his debut solo project 'MMXX'. Released on July 10, the new EP consists of five tracks and features collaborations including Russian-born psychedelic R&B soul singer TinaKristina.

You may recognize Koretsky's name as the boyfriend of The Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan, who died in 2018. Koretsky first met his friend and bandmate Andy Rourke (The Smiths bassist) in 2003. Six years later, the two worked as presenters at NYC-based internet radio station East Village Radio and decided to form DJ outfit and band called Jetlag. O’Riordan decided to join the band, which was when the trio decided to change the band name to D.A.R.K. In 2016, the group released their critically-acclaimed debut album 'Science Agrees'.

Koretsky also dipped his toes in The Cranberries' music, having toured and recorded two albums with them. According to a press release statement, Koretsky spoke about The Cranberries frontwoman and the two years that followed after her untimely death. "I spent a couple years self-isolating," he said. But he would not let the tragedy box him from the world and remove his desire to make music. "I felt it was time for me to shift focus and rejoin society," he explained.

For the new 'MMXX' EP, Koretsky said, "This release is my way to start looking ahead, and rejoin the world in a way that helps me feel more hopeful about the future.”

Koretsky's 'MMXX' EP cover art (Press handout)

When you listen to the EP, you understand its not all flowers and fairies but rather a shift from thick darkness into just a trace of light. Perhaps when one is surrounded by darkness, just a glimpse of something better makes it easier to see a hopeful solution. The EP yearns for you to look beyond the crust of its morbidity, pain and hopelessness.

The EP's opening track 'The One' was released as a single in April. We are introduced to Koretsky's deep, somber vocals singing, "I'm not your son. I'm not the child you want. I'm not the one. I'm not the man you thought. It's all the same. There is no truth. I'm not the way. The way for you" over lush darkwave carried by a traipsing beat. "I try not to overthink lyrics," Koretsky explained of the track. "The words may reflect feelings of disconnection and isolation that I was dealing with at the time that I was writing the song. Oddly, it resonates again today during this pandemic."

The following track 'Signs of Life' changes from darkwave to a sonically brighter new wave style. Featured singer TinaKristina brings a subtle eeriness with her vocals in the opening verses before irradiating pain, yearning and a sense of freeing lightness in the chorus.

We hear a strong theme of a dystopian future from the '80s in 'Heartbreaker'. Songs that have tried their hand at cybernetic or apocalyptic scores have often missed the bar by being too timid. In 'Heartbreaker' it appears as if Koretsky relishes in an escapist's fantasy of a futuristic end as the track densely pushes synth to the fore, layered by a variety of strings and celestial tones.

With his overwhelming need to create, Koretsky is prepping to release new music in the future that feels uncertain. "What the future's gonna look like now, is a bit of mystery," he pondered in a statement. "Music or art in general is meant to be an escape. Creativity is the only good drug."

If you are a fan of The Smiths, The Cranberries, The Cure, Depeche Mode, traces of similar sounds are all in 'MMXX' and we gladly recommend it.

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