(SOUNDBITE OF SYNTHESIZER)
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Analogue synthesizers use physical circuits to create and shape sounds. And like their digital counterparts, they're kind of unpredictable. And for the music group Doublespeak, that's the appeal.
BEN "BENGE" EDWARDS: You know, you've got functions there in front of you that you can get your hands on and sort of play around with in real time as the track develops. And they always sort of surprise you. They always suggest things that you weren't expecting. That's why I love them.
NEIL ARTHUR: They can be very, very noisy, as well.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROCK ON")
DOUBLESPEAK: (Singing) Hey, kid, rock and roll, rock on.
EDWARDS: Doublespeak is a collaboration between electronic musicians who don't really know what they're doing until they start doing it.
SIMON: Neil Arthur of Blancmange and producer Ben Benge Edwards make up Doublespeak, along with Erasure's Vince Clarke. The trio's debut album is self-titled.
ARTHUR: We decided to do versions, interpretations of other people's songs that we liked. They're all electronic, so they've all got analogues synths and drum machines. It began to develop its own identity.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROCK ON")
DOUBLESPEAK: (Singing) Blue jean baby queen. Prettiest girl I've ever seen. See her shake on the movie screen. Jimmy Dean.
ARTHUR: The song "Rock On," originally recorded by David Essex and, I think, released in about 1973, '74, it always stood out to me as being very different in terms of its production values and technique. For me, it kind of almost sounds like a proto-Prince song, like "Sign 'O' The Times" or something.
EDWARDS: I think the vibe of our version of it is kind of like a Cold War, edgy, punky version, in a way.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROCK ON")
DOUBLESPEAK: (Singing) Which is the way that's clear? Still looking for that blue jean baby queen.
SIMON: The covers on the album "Doublespeak" span decades of music history, like BJ Leiderman, who does our theme music. One period that was especially inspiring for the group was the birth of punk.
EDWARDS: The '70s got really over the top with prog rock and all these bands doing crazy, like, overproduced albums that were just ridiculous - and capes and makeup. And punk came along in 1976, and then just said [expletive] that. We're just going to play the most basic chords and shout on top of them. So it kind of felt very sort of open-ended and exciting as a musician. 'Cause you had all these new toys to play with and these new ideas that you could - you didn't have to learn how to play scales or chords or - you know, you could just get a few mates together and come up with some brand-new sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RICHARD!")
DOUBLESPEAK: (Singing) Richard, to help in a task, just listen. Come back. You've drifted apart from your morals. Help us.
EDWARDS: My favorite song on the album is "Richard! " because it's just such a beautiful song. It's got amazing lyrics, and it's kind of coming from the real underground, I would say, 'cause nobody really knows that song, particularly. And yet, it's such a powerful, beautiful song. And I really, really loved making that one 'cause we had fun.
ARTHUR: Oh, bloody hell.
EDWARDS: I think synths have a kind of really valid place still in music making. You know, synths are kind of covered in knobs and sliders and things you can really get your hands on. And I think there's a danger in modern music and the sort of world of AI, where that's going to disappear unless we're careful.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RICHARD!")
DOUBLESPEAK: (Singing) Seen sorrow. Come back...
SIMON: Doublespeak's self-titled album is out now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RICHARD!")
DOUBLESPEAK: (Singing) You've drifted apart. Tomorrow, Belthazar will probably ask to see your colored collage that glows in the dark. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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