Fabio Lendrum

It was incredibly hard to begin this piece. Only because the music provided by a Mr.Fabio Lendrum left me void of vocabulary. Such an event is an unusual thing. Boys doing power pop successfully is an equally rarer event. You see, I am always incredibly skeptical when it comes to boys putting on their pop pants. It would seem the charts often reflect that similar reluctance. Look at the "success" of recent material by Frankmusik, Darren Hayes and of course the inevitable very sad bombastic flop of Eric Hassle. Its not the music itself-they've created amazing hooks. But its a tricky line to approach. And for me, Fabio does it ease. He combines the zest of Betty Boo, Shampoo and Spice Girls, the adorable slicks of those 1980 superstars like Eurythmics+Erasure, shards of Massive Attack and critical elements of Kylie, Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson. All the while you'll always hear Fabio.

You see, when you listen to many a myspace player featuring brilliant new music they often sound like the genre they're trying to ape. They often get lost within the production or the decade that influences them the most. Anyone could sing the tracks. Not with Fabio. Not only does he stamp each track with his own style but writing the music himself illustrates his veins pump right into the baselines he produces. It wonderfully and rudely screams original and character.

And, the end result is glorious. If you a need a hint as to present affinity acts: think of Calvin Harris only much better. Oh and cuter. Fabio appear to do most of his etchings in the dance-pop arena but if you take a listen to Dark Star you'll hear the artist brushes strokes beyond mirrorballs and strobe lights. Its clear he sings from within. For me, when Dark Star started playing it all made sense. The capacity of Fabio as a force to be reckoned next year is unimaginable. Its Dark Star when you realize Fabio will blow those cool kids posing around Shoreditch with their beards and over-the-top-tight jeans out of the water. Though water is probably the one thing their unwashed bodies need. Fabio is a middle finger to all of that. And what a great middle finger it is. Each track he gives us is a whipping slice of epic pop music. When he turns up the bpm, the song emerges as instantly catchy and insanely danceable. Very enjoyable indeed.


You see, he's signed by Steve Allen. Warner (Eternal). But in particular he's his name belongs to a history which reaches back to Gina G and her Fresh album. For me, that album shaped a particular time in my life. The Fresh album was the yang to Kylie's Impossible Princess which took some time for the young teenage me to properly understand. It was Gina G's Fresh album that allowed me to realize what Impossible Princess was truly about. In the great pop genealogy of things, those who worked with Gina G and that album would then go onto work with Dannii and gave Cher Believe. Everything But The Girl also had arguebly the biggest hit of their careers at the same time through this label. Its interesting to me that those connected to Eternal would go onto form Xenomania & supply Girls Aloud with all their addictive chunks of pop. I could go onto the many contemporary strands of pop that lead back to this particular point of time and label but we'd be here all day. Suffice to say, it brings me immense joy to know Fabio is soaring under the glittering auspices of this particular label and its history. They just can't go wrong. Power pop at its finest.

Fabio is the sound of 2011. He will be huge. You just cant ignore the uber-rich quality of pop he provides....

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