Born out of sheer love and devotion to synth sounds and the appreciation of vintage song writing skills, Keith Trigwell, Mark Bebb and Rob Dust have created a masterpiece, which will both surprise and invigorate the most discerning lovers of electronica.
F O R M was born when Shelter’s exuberant frontman and co-writer Mark Bebb met the mastermind and production wizard of Speak & Spell Keith Trigwell. The twosome immediately found common ground in the love of sublime electronic sounds as well as the ability to exercise the good old songwriting discipline, and the writing process begun. The celebrated German producer Rob Dust came on board, having displayed a natural affinity between the combined musical tastes and direction.
Located on the opposite sides of the UK, Mark and Keith would come together unleashing their inherent gift of creating a song and Rob would concentrate on further honing the sound of F O R M.
Keith Trigwell’s love affair with music didn’t start with being the brains of Speak & Spell. An avid follower of electronic music, Keith started writing, producing and working with bands as an engineer, programmer and producer at an early age.An ex member of Indigenous (an electronic duo produced by Julian Beeston of Nitzer Ebb), Keith engineered for Rob Young from Primal Scream, Solar Enemy (aka Portion Control) among others when working as an engineer at the Basement Studios.Having programmed and produced 95% of Speak & Spell’s back-engineered material, Keith toured prestigious venues across Europe and the UK, including the iconic Glastonbury Festival.He’s also remixed a number of contemporary artists, such as Modovar, Matthias and the legendary John Fryer.
Mark R. Bebb is widely known for his larger than life stage prowess, exercised in the successful electro pop duo Shelter with Rob Bradley. Mark provides vocals and co-writes the duo’s material, and has long been a performer and musical artist. Having sung live on UK’s Channel 5, Mark also co-wrote, produced and provided backing vocals on Andy Bell’s third solo album ‘iPop’, worked with Vince Clarke on ‘Lift Me Up’ and opened up for Erasure on their Violet Flame Tour with Shelter.His track ‘With U’ featuring Frankmusik, scored spot number 9 on U.K. Commercial Pop Club Charts and Mark often lends his capable voice on a plethora of collaborations, either as lead or backing vocalist.Currently with Shelter, Mark is showcasing his stage talents, supporting Human League on their European tour.
Germany’s Rob Dust has worked in numerous electronic acts over the years. His prolific remix and production work is widely known in the synth circles and his many achievements involve remixing Andy Bell’s ‘Electrostatic’, working with such legends as Alphaville, Camouflage, De/Vision, MESH, Visage, Torul, Chrom, Vanguard, Emil Bulls, Tokio Hotel, Joachim Witt, Hubert Kah and a vast number of others.Rob had a Number 1 remix of Sara Noxx feat Mark Benecke with ‘Jeanny’, and his ‘Boot’ version of Depeche Mode’s ‘Soothe My Soul’ was widely promoted in the US.
‘defiance+entropy’ is F O R M’s debut, but what an entry it is. Created by three capable individuals, the first opus has all the qualities of grown up electronica, provided over the total of 12 tracks, spanning over 53 minutes listening time.
From the opening ‘Prelude 47’ to the closing ‘Infinity’, the listener is being taken onto a roller coaster journey of tears, fear, elation and victory, deeply embedded within the masterful lyrics by Mark and musical know how of Keith’s.‘Poison’, the single heralding the long player, is a direct, unforgiving assault, delivered over an infectious and powerful groove, designed to be a memorable and uplifting live anthem.‘Fire’ ignites the senses with punctuated beat, immediate pulse and paralysing electricity. Designed to instil the fighting power, ‘Override’ urges the collective to not give up, but continue even when things are tight: “you haven’t died, you still kick inside”.The glittering insight into the late night encounters, ‘Sugar’ bursts with arrogant confidence, while ‘Addict’ reminisces onto 70s synthesis, providing an opening to the trappings of materialism, while screaming for something more spiritual. Featuring a brutal modular synth solo and unforgiving bass groove, this powerful number doesn’t let up.In the same vein, ‘Enough’ relays thought provoking frankness about the modern ways, where property and possessions have taken precedence over community and human values, asking where this trend will stop: “when is enough ever enough, when is enough too much”, asks Mark over an industrial drone step sequence through a filter.The further call to revolution, expressed via the means of an uplifting Erasure-esque cord progression, is delivered in ‘Everlasting’. Possibly the most poignant track on ‘defiance+entropy’ is the reoccurring vision of how the human connections can transcend death on ‘Infinity’. This compelling declaration of infinite love is as uplifting as it is thoughtful: “as clouds roll in, the end is just the start, as heaven splits our worlds apart, I carry you in my heart...my love will always stay right here with you, I will never leave you”. To truly understand the lyrics of this song is only for the brave of heart. Keith’s vision was to convey the statement that no one ever really dies, and Mark expertly penned down the lyrics to this love song taken to another level.A waltz on human nature, is what ‘Lies’ is, alongside ‘Surrender’, which is another robust affirmation of commitment.