Los Angeles – While Mike Greene, the mastermind and sole member of electronic music act Fort Romeau, has not made any grand departures from the well-received sound he established on his debut album and subsequent singles, the London-based house producer has tweaked the formula just a bit. Fort Romeau’s second full-length, Insides, was released earlier this week by record label and art company Ghostly International after he has spent the last few years focusing on DJ-ing and releasing EPs and 12” singles.
At one time, Greene was best known as the touring keyboard player for the slick and commercial new wave revival act La Roux. While he provided an integral element to the band’s live sound, he decided to shift his focus on developing his own project in Fort Romeau. The increased focus on his solo work shows up all over Insides, with stellar production and a sound that not only straddles the line between introspective bedroom house and funky dance-floor grooves, but also sits firmly between classic Chicago-style house music and more futuristic, forward thinking EDM.
Kingdoms, Fort Romeau’s debut full-length, was most noteworthy for the extensive use of vocal sampling that became the defining elements for songs like “Jack Rollin” and “Theo.” On Insides, he takes a step away from that dynamic, as the eight songs contain a noticeable lack of vocal sampling. Instead, Greene sought to emphasize his musical composition skills on Insides, and it shows on many of the tracks. This stylistic shift is not completely unexpected, as Fort Romeau used less sampling in many of his short releases between the two full-lengths.
Fort Romeau does not completely forgo vocal samples on Insides. While the first two tracks are completely instrumental, “All I Want” brings back some of that old sound as a little vocal sampling shows up. However, instead of the samples becoming the major characteristic of the track, these wordless vocals slide deeper and deeper into the background of the track until they are just another instrument in the mix. Later on in the album, the title track provides some very simple, even subtle vocal samples that appear sporadically and selectively over the shuffling, sliding groove.
“Not a Word” is the most blatant use of vocals on Insides, with a vocoder-processed singing bringing added passion to the driving, electronic beat and the swirling synthesizers. Opener “New Wave” gets the album started with brilliantly twinkling synthesizer runs and a liquid bass line set atop one of Fort Romeau’s ubiquitous 4/4 beats, recalling some of Chromatics most EDM-indebted tracks like “In the City” and “Tick of the Clock.” The ten and a half minute long “Lately” gets started with a casual, straightforward beat before swirling into a second-half that is atmospheric and could almost be described as prog-rock-inspired.
Insides may have some elements that are heavily indebted classic Chicago house music, but it also showcases Greene’s willingness to take some musical risks. Despite some changes in his sound’s dynamics, Fort Romeau’s second album is a strong sophomore effort.
During April and May, Fort Romeau has a handful of dates in the U.K. and Europe. In May, Fort Romeau will play the Movement Festival in Detroit.
Matt Matasci
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