College – Secret Diary

Invada Records have developed a taste for retro-futuristic analogue synth-pop, as evidenced by their re-release of the debut album by French producer David Grellier, better known as College, the man behind the now incredibly ubiquitous A Real Hero, from the Drive soundtrack. These tracks are less polished and melody-driven than A Real Hero might lead you to expect – Grellier never over-ornaments a track.

The likes of When You Smile and title track Secret Diary are constructed from rich, unfiltered, interlocking synth lines and not much else. When vocals are brought into the mix, as on The Energy Story, they lift the whole track, achieving a glimmer of the pop majesty Drive fans might have been expecting.

This culminates on the fantastic She Never Came Back, a shimmering, saccharine slice of dream-pop that effortlessly out-80s the 1980s. While there is perhaps a little too much in the way of skeletal synth-jamming here for all but the purists, its standout moments soar.