Fresh off of premieres with PureGrainAudio and signing with Muddy Paw PR, Adam Drew’s project “The Religion” has recently released an album entitled “Anhedonia”. If you’re into 80’s New Wave with modern day synth-pop, I suggest that you try this one out.
“Anhedonia” is characterized as a major depressive disorder where one has the inability to feel pleasure. For example, social anhedonia is not having interest in being involved in social situations whereas physical anhedonia is having the inability to feel pleasures such as eating, touching, or sex. The Religion has taken the concept of anhedonia and has packed it into eight songs.
Songs such as “Envy” and “Lost” are characterized by those feelings of anhedonia. “Envy” is definitely that snarky, sarcastic song where the singer was in love with this girl and because of anhedonia he loses complete interest in the girl and in order to hide this disorder, he says nothing but completely vile things about this girl. “Lost” is that feeling one gets in anhedonia, where everyone gets pleasure in the simple things in life, but if one has anhedonia, it is impossible to feel that pleasure that everyone seems to have.
Songs such as “The Imitation Game” and “If The World Should End” talks about going through the motions of life and not really caring what happens tomorrow. To cover this concept, The Religion does a solid job of conveying these emotions to talk about the concepts of depression, especially when one doesn’t feel pleasure in anything.
In terms of the arrangements, the synth, new wave arrangements are solid, especially if you’re into a modern day version of groups like Dead Or Alive. In the song “Curtain Call”, it sounded like if Orgy stripped away their goth-rock and went completely synth-pop. The record is dark and moody, and this sounds strange, but I would’ve liked to have heard a bit more electronica influence in the vocals, but maybe I just expected that given the style and arrangements of the music. It is a good start for The Religion to introduce himself to the world, with growth and becoming more seasoned overall, I see The Religion doing well for himself in the future. Madness To Creation gives this a 7 out of 10 stars. Here is the track listing below.
- Curtain Call
- Envy
- Criminals
- Lost
- The Imitation Game
- Ambition
- Let In Love
- If The World Should End
Fans can find The Religion at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/thereligionmusic
