No Signal is the latest album from psych/synth rock based Elle Belle (real name Christopher Pappas). This 9 song (30 min, 44 sec) album works through the stages of a breakup ­ the heartbreak, betrayal, bargaining, and the unanswered questions. However, this isn’t your typical album break up record; this is about politics. Pappas isn’t breaking up with a partner. No Signal is an album about breaking up with America...

After the 2016 USA elections, Christopher Pappas (aka Elle Belle) was pretty depressed. He claims that the result left him shell shocked. He started writing new material and the resulting songs started to feel like break up songs.

“I realized that it felt like I was writing a break up album, I was going through all the same stages of grief.” says Pappas. “Everything was a love song gone wrong so I kept following that feeling."

Musically, No Signal touches a lot of bases. There's an '80s vibe on 'No Signal' (in fact '80s music has a huge influence on this release); 'The Witch is Burning' takes us into the '90s with a sound that's not dissimilar to Placebo. In fact, as the album progresses I was struck by the thought that maybe Pappas was trawling through his life (to music from past decades) as his main inspiration. There's a lot of retro sounding tracks here and that, for me, was the main appeal.

It's an engaging and captivating album that has an oddly nostalgic feel to it.

8

Nick Smithson