Poland’s electronic music project Rozmazani announces the release of their new album, Hard Times, out today via Diffuse Reality Records. Following 2021’s Synthuzjazm, they return to the electronic coldwave scene strong with new material and new experimentation.

The album opens with the titular track “Hard Times”, a sharp and aggressive Peaches-style rhythm with cold, seemingly hushed melodeclamation. Channeling Recoil and soul singer Baby Huey alike, this sinister opener sets the tone for the rest of the album. “Unspoken Words” is more aggressive and dance-friendly, mixing rapacious rhythm and vocals in the style of Anne Clark mixed with The Prodigy. Likewise, “Ostatni taniec” (The Last Dance) brims with that same high energy, nervous, quivering rhythm as she dramatically reads off  X-ray and MRI results – bringing to mind Fad Gadget’s “Arch of the Aorta”. 

“Bezgłos” (Aphonia) emotionally and rhythmically contrasts to the ‘silence’ in the song title. “NINe Days Of Falling” tempers the dynamics of the album for a moment with a slower pace: it is a tribute to Nine Inch Nails, with piano played by Ewa and Wojtek’s electro arrangements.  “Jeziora nieskończone” boasts a thick drum rhythm. The lyrics are based on Dream-Land by Edgar Allan Poe, so the vocals reflect the atmosphere of Poe’s style in whispers and murmurs. “Zamykam oczy” features modulated vocals that beautifully harmonize with expressive percussion and bass.

“Elementos Der Terror” is a Testiculo cover, which brings to mind classic, disco synthpop. “Oddalenie” is a steady and metrical, looped rhythm track with apathetic and cold vocals, mixing elements of trip-hop with trance. “Brylaty” and “Ciężar” are two songs in that complement each other: hard and slow…and boiling hot. “Thoughts speak to You” is a variation of the same lyrics written and sung for “Unspoken words”, but with more melodic refrains.

Listen below:

You can also order the album here.

Rozmazani is a DIY duo of two personalities who, after the formation of the group, began to mix and diffuse each other’s approaches, marrying synth, EBM, and electronic music with industrual, alt-rock, jazz and classical. A long-distance effort, they create their music via the Internet, music, Logic Pro X and sound recording devices. All this is embellished with polyphonic singing.

“We made everything by ourselves,” says the band. “Our music videos are homemade. We record it by ourselves and cut them. Every video is recorded in some industrial urbex place or in some castles.”

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